Paul Celan.

Celan grew up as an only child in a German-speaking Jewish family in Cernauti, Bukovina now Chernivtsi, Ukraine, a city characterized by Hasidism. He attended a German and Hebrew school before switching to a Romanian and Ukrainian high school, learning Romanian. Early poems from 1937-38 showed traditional lyrical harmony but also alienation.

Celan’s breakthrough came in 1952 with the publication of Poppy and Memory, which included Death Fugue, a poem that became synonymous with Holocaust literature. He presented it at a meeting of Group 47 in Niendorf but met with little understanding. He later won the Georg Büchner Prize in 1960, delivering a speech The Meridian on poetry’s fringe existence.

In 1952 Celan married the painter Gisèle Lestrange. Their first child died shortly after birth in 1953, and their son Eric was born in 1955. Celan suffered from mental health issues, leading to hospitalizations in 1962-63 and again in 1965-66. He separated from his wife in 1967.

Celan’s work transformed German-language poetry after the Holocaust, forcing a reexamination of language. His poem Death Fugue remains a touchstone for literature addressing atrocity. Posthumous collections like Zeitgehöft 1976 extended his influence. British author Martin Amis dedicated his 2014 novel The Zone of Interest to Celan.