View source for Felix Salten

{{Short description|Austro-Hungarian Jewish author and literary critic (1869–1945)}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer]] -->
| image            = Felix Salten 1910.jpg
| caption          = Salten {{circa|1910}}
| birth_name       = Siegmund Salzmann
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1869|9|6|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1945|10|8|1869|9|6|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Zürich]], Switzerland
| resting_place    = [[:de:Friedhof Unterer Friesenberg|Friedhof Unterer Friesenberg]], [[Friesenberg#Jewish_cemeteries|Friesenberg]], Zürich, Switzerland
| occupation       = Writer
| nationality      = [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]]<br>(until 1918)<br />Austrian<br>(from 1918)
| notableworks     = ''[[The Hound of Florence]]''<br />''[[Bambi, a Life in the Woods]]''<br />''[[Bambi's Children]]''
| spouse           = Ottilie Metzl
| children         = 2
| relatives        = [[Hans Rehmann]] (son-in-law)
| awards           = 
| signature        = Felix Salten signature.svg
| influences       = 
}}

'''Felix Salten''' ({{IPA|de|ˈzaltn̩|lang}}; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austrian author and [[Literary criticism|literary critic]]. His most famous work is ''[[Bambi, a Life in the Woods]]'', which was adapted into an animated feature film, ''[[Bambi]]'', by [[Walt Disney Pictures|Walt Disney Productions]] in 1942.

==Early life==
Salten was born Siegmund Salzmann on 6 September 1869 in [[Pest, Hungary|Pest]], [[Austria-Hungary]]. His father was Fülöp Salzmann, the telegraph office's clerk in Pest; his mother was Maria Singer.<ref name="SiegmundSalzmannbirth">{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9G9-FV8W?i=171&cat=292437|title=familysearch.org - Hungary - Pest - Jewish birth registers - Siegmund Salzmann - 1869. Sep 6.|website=[[FamilySearch]] }}</ref> He was the grandson of an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[rabbi]]. When he was four weeks old, his family relocated to [[Vienna]], as many Jews did after the Imperial government had [[Jewish emancipation|granted full citizenship rights]] to Jews [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867|in 1867]].{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} 

As a teen, Felix changed his name to Salten in order to appear less Jewish, and considered converting to Catholicism due to the antisemitism he experienced from his Austrian neighbors and schoolmates.<ref name="Forward">{{cite news |last1=Grisar |first1=PJ |title=Is 'Bambi' about Jewish persecution, Zionism or something else? |url=https://forward.com/culture/481658/bambi-disney-jewish-holocaust-antisemitism-jack-zipes-allegory-salten/ |access-date=26 May 2024 |work=[[The Forward]] |date=2022-01-28}}</ref> When his father went bankrupt, the sixteen-year-old Salten quit school and began working for an insurance agency.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==Literary career==
Salten then became part of the "[[Young Vienna]]" movement (''Jung-Wien'') and soon received work as a full-time art and theater critic for Vienna's press (''Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung'', ''Zeit''). In 1900, he published his first collection of short stories. In 1901, he initiated Vienna's first, short-lived literary cabaret ''Jung-Wiener Theater Zum lieben Augustin''.

He was soon publishing, on an average, one book a year, of plays, short stories, novels, travel books, and essay collections. He also wrote for nearly all the major newspapers of Vienna. In 1906, Salten went to Ullstein as an editor in chief of the ''B.Z. am Mittag'' and the ''Berliner Morgenpost'', but relocated to Vienna some months later. He wrote also film scripts and librettos for operettas. In 1927 he became president of the Austrian [[International PEN|P.E.N.]] club as successor of [[Arthur Schnitzler]].

His best remembered work is ''[[Bambi, A Life in the Woods|Bambi]]'' (1923). Kathryn Schulz of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' stated that ''Bambi'' "rendered Salten famous".<ref name=Schulzbleaker>{{cite magazine|last=Schulz|first=Kathryn|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/bambi-is-even-bleaker-than-you-thought|title=“Bambi” Is Even Bleaker Than You Thought|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=2022-01-17|access-date=2025-07-16}}</ref> A translation in English was published by [[Simon & Schuster]] in 1928, and became a Book-of-the-Month Club success. In 1933, he sold the film rights to the American director [[Sidney Franklin (director)|Sidney Franklin]] for only $1,000, and Franklin later transferred the rights to the [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]],{{fact|date=July 2025}} which formed the basis of the animated film ''[[Bambi]]'' (1942). The film became far more prominent than the book, and Schulz commented that this meant that as a result it "rendered [Salten] virtually unknown" and that it also made the original novel "obscure".<ref name=Schulzbleaker/>

Life in [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]] became perilous for Jews during the 1930s. In Germany, [[Adolf Hitler]] had Salten's books banned in 1936. Two years later, after [[Anschluss|Germany's annexation of Austria]], Salten moved to [[Zürich]], Switzerland, with his wife, and spent his final years there. Felix Salten died on 8 October 1945, at the age of 76. He is buried at [[Israelitischer Friedhof Unterer Friesenberg]].

Salten is now considered the probable author of a successful erotic novel, ''[[Josephine Mutzenbacher|Josephine Mutzenbacher: The Life Story of a Viennese Whore, as Told by Herself]]'' published anonymously in 1906, filled with social criticism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eddy |first=Beverley Driver |date=2010 |title=Felix Salten: Man of Many Faces |location=Riverside (Ca.) |publisher=Ariadne Press |pages=111–114 |isbn=978-1-57241-169-2}}</ref>

==Zionism==
Inspired by fellow Austrian Jew [[Theodor Herzl]], Salten became an outspoken advocate for the [[Zionist movement]], which appealed to Salten's sense of self-empowerment. Salten anonymously wrote a column for Herzl's newspaper ''[[Die Welt (Herzl)|Die Welt]],'' published a lengthy profile of Herzl after his 1904 death, and spoke at events sponsored by the  Bar Kochba Society alongside [[Martin Buber]].<ref name="Forward" />

==Personal life==
Salten married actress Ottilie Metzl (1868–1942) in 1902, and had two children: Paul (1903–1937) and Anna Katharina (1904–1977), who married Swiss actor [[Hans Rehmann]]. He composed another book based on the character of [[Bambi (character)|Bambi]], titled ''[[Bambi's Children|Bambi’s Children: The Story of a Forest Family]]'' (1939). His stories ''[[Perri (novel)|Perri]]'' and ''[[The Hound of Florence]]'' inspired the [[Disney]] films ''[[Perri (film)|Perri]]'' (1957) and ''[[The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)|The Shaggy Dog]]'' (1959), respectively.

Salten was an avid hunter.<ref>{{citation|author1=Sax, Boria|title=The Mythical Zoo: An Encyclopedia of Animals in World Myth, Legend, and Literature|page=146|year=2001|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=1-5760-7612-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/iphone_app/newsapp/article13886962/Zu-Besuch-bei-den-Erben-von-Bambi.html|title=Israel: Zu Besuch bei den Erben von Bambi|last=Jessen|first=Norbert|date=2012-02-26|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218104838/https://www.welt.de/iphone_app/newsapp/article13886962/Zu-Besuch-bei-den-Erben-von-Bambi.html|archive-date=2018-12-18|access-date=2018-12-18|periodical=WELT}}</ref> 

==Selected works==
* 1899 – ''Der Gemeine''
* 1906 – ''[[Josephine Mutzenbacher]]'', authorship assumed – in German: ''Josefine Mutzenbacher oder Die Geschichte einer Wienerischen Dirne von ihr selbst erzählt'' (Vienna: Privatdruck [Fritz Freund], 1906)
* 1907 – ''Herr Wenzel auf Rehberg und sein Knecht Kaspar Dinckel''
* 1910 – ''Olga Frohgemuth''
* 1911 – ''Der Wurstelprater''
* 1922 – ''Das Burgtheater''
* 1923 – ''[[The Hound of Florence|Der Hund von Florenz]]''; English translation by Huntley Paterson, illustrated by [[Kurt Wiese]], ''The Hound of Florence'' (Simon & Schuster, 1930), {{OCLC|1826868}}
* 1923 – ''Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde''; English transl. [[Whittaker Chambers]], illus. Kurt Wiese, foreword John Galsworthy, as ''[[Bambi, a Life in the Woods]]'' (US: Simon & Schuster, 1928, {{OCLC|69170544}}; UK: Jonathan Cape, June/July 1928, {{OCLC|8454451}}); re-illustrated by [[Barbara Cooney]] (S&S, 1970), {{OCLC|824177272}}
* 1925 – ''[[Neue Menschen auf alter Erde|Neue Menschen auf alter Erde: Eine Palästinafahrt]]''
* 1927 – ''Martin Overbeck: Der Roman eines reichen jungen Mannes''
* 1929 – ''Fünfzehn Hasen: Schicksale in Wald und Feld''; English transl. [[Whittaker Chambers]], as ''[[Fifteen Rabbits]]'' (US: Simon & Schuster, 1930, {{OCLC|1050794154}}); revised and enlarged (New York : Grosset & Dunlap, 1942, illus. Kurt Wiese), {{OCLC|4026552}})
*1931 – ''Freunde aus aller Welt: Roman eines zoologischen Gartens''; English transl. [[Whittaker Chambers]], illus. Kurt Wiese, as ''The City Jungle'' (US: Simon & Schuster, 1932, {{OCLC|2079025}})
* 1931 – ''[[Fünf Minuten Amerika]]''
* 1933 – ''Florian: Das Pferd des Kaisers''; transl. Erich Posselt and Michel Kraike, ''[[Florian: The Emperor’s Stallion]]'' (Bobbs-Merrill, 1934), {{OCLC|8990860}}
* 1938 – ''[[Perri (novel)|Perri]]''; German, ''Die Jugend des Eichhörnchens Perri''
* 1939 – ''[[Bambi's Children]]'', English translation (Bobbs-Merrill); German original, ''Bambis Kinder: Eine Familie im Walde'' (1940)<!--we say in the book article-->
* 1940 – ''[[Renni the Rescuer]]''
* 1942 – ''A Forest World''
* 1945 – ''[[Djibi, the Kitten]]'', illus. Walter Linsenmaier; U.S. transl., ''Jibby the Cat'' (Messner, 1948)

==Selected filmography==
* ''[[Doctor Schotte]]'' (1918)
* ''[[Modern Marriages]]'' (1924)
* ''[[Comedians (1925 film)|Comedians]]'' (1925)
* ''[[Storm in a Water Glass (1931 film)|Storm in a Water Glass]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Poor as a Church Mouse]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Scampolo (1932 film)|Scampolo]]'' (1932)
* ''[[The Empress and I]]'' (1933)
* ''[[The Only Girl (film)|The Only Girl]]'' (1933)

=== Adaptations ===
* ''[[Florian (film)|Florian]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Bambi]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Perri (film)|Perri]]'' (1957)
* ''[[The Shaggy Dog (1959 film)|The Shaggy Dog]]'' (1959)

==See also==
*''[[Exilliteratur]]''

* [[List of Austrian writers]]

*[[Fable]]
*[[Salzmann]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Eddy, Beverley Driver: ''Felix Salten: Man of Many Faces.'' Riverside (Ca.): Ariadne Press, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-57241-169-2}}.
* Seibert, Ernst & Blumesberger, Susanne (eds.): ''Felix Salten – der unbekannte Bekannte.'' Wien 2006. {{ISBN|3-7069-0368-7}}.

==External links==
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/felix-salten}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=35122| name=Felix Salten}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Salzmann, Siegmund|name=Felix Salten|author=yes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Felix Salten}}
* {{Librivox author |id=17958}}
* {{IMDb name|id=0759041|name=Felix Salten}}
* {{LCAuth|n50016249|Felix Salten|127|ue}}
* {{Find a Grave|13888260|access-date=12 April 2016}}
* [http://www.mlang.name/felix/salten-bibliography.html Felix Salten: A Preliminary Bibliography of His Works in Translation.]

{{Felix Salten|state=expanded}}
{{Bambi}}
{{The Hound of Florence}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salten, Felix}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century German dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]
[[Category:Austrian children's writers]]
[[Category:Austrian literary critics]]
[[Category:Austrian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Austrian male novelists]]
[[Category:Austrian Zionists]]
[[Category:Jews from Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Writers from Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Exilliteratur writers]]
[[Category:German male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:German male novelists]]
[[Category:Hungarian refugees]]
[[Category:Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss]]
[[Category:Jewish novelists]]
[[Category:Swiss people of Austrian descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Budapest]]
[[Category:Young Vienna]]
[[Category:Literary critics from Austria-Hungary]]