Lavant, Christine (1915–1973)

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Lavant, Christine (1915–1973)

Austrian poet. Born Christine Thonhauser, July 4, 1915, near St. Stefan, Lavanttal, Carinthia, Austria; died June 7, 1973, in Wolfsberg, Austria; m. Josef Habernig, 1939.

The 9th child in a miner's family, who suffered from a disfiguring illness and had a brief stay in a mental asylum, often wrote of despair and dark mystical experiences; began writing under the pseudonym Lavant (1945); poetry collections include Die Bettlerschale (The Beggar's Bowl, 1956), Spindel im Mond (Spindle on the Moon, 1959), and De Pfauenschrei (The Cry of the Peacock, 1962). Won Georg Trakl Prize and Anton Wildgans Prize.

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