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 WERFEL Franz (1890-1945) Austrian writer, humanist. He studied at the universities of Prague, Leipzig and Hamburg. 1912, being in the service of the Austrian army, Werfel was arrested for speaking out against militarism in the country. He took part in World War I, then in the revolution of 1918. In the subsequent years, he became interested in literature. After the Nazi occupation of Austria in 1938, he moved to Italy, then to France, and later settled in the United States.

"40 Days of Musa Dagh" (1934) is the most famous novel of Werfel. The novel is based on real events taking place in Suede in 1915, when the Turkish government tried to destroy the Armenians in that area of the Mediterranean sea. Armenians decided to rebel against the Turkish authorities climbing the Mount Musa and organizing self-defense, which lasted 53 days. The author used the testimonies of eyewitnesses, the news, studied the history religion and culture of the Armenian people, and worked in the library of Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna for few months.

Werfel perceived the deep grief and suffering of the Armenian people, the justice of its struggle and created a work of art, where the fate of the people was reinterpreted by the example of the heroes of self-defense of Musa Ler. In a short time the novel gained a great popularity, in 1934 it received the International Award as the best novel of the year. In the same year the novel was translated into English, Italian, French and into other languages, and in 1935 into Armenian and was published in more than 20 languages. In Nazi Germany this and other books of Werfel were considered to be of "anti-German spirit" and were banned. Many plays, television programs were created and the Czech composer E. Matey wrote an opera based on the novel. 

M. Pirumova

Source-Encyclopedia “The Armenian Question” Yerevan, 1996.