Melvin J. Lasky
Encyclopedia
Melvin Jonah Lasky was an American journalist, intellectual, and member of the anti-Communist left
. He was the older brother of the influential entertainment lawyer Floria Lasky
and Joyce Lasky Reed, the President and founder of the Faberge Arts Foundation and former Director of European Affairs at the American Enterprise Institute
.
and schooled at City College
and later the University of Michigan
, he would serve in World War II
as a combat historian for the 7th Army. Lasky remained in Germany
after the war, making his home in Berlin
, where he worked for American military governor Lucius D. Clay
. During this time, Lasky was an outspoken critic of the United States' earlier reluctance to intervene to stop the genocide of European Jews.
in 1948 as an anti-Communist but Leftist, socially progressive journal which became one of the leading Germanophone highbrow socio-political journals for decades, incorporating essays and articles from many Western European and North-American, as well as dissident East Bloc intellectual figureheads, such as George Orwell
, Hannah Arendt
, Franz Borkenau
, Thomas Mann
, Arthur Koestler
, Raymond Aron
, Ignazio Silone
, Heinrich Böll
, Hans Sahl
, Max Frisch
, T. S. Eliot
, Saul Bellow
, Milovan Djilas, Richard Löwenthal
, Peter de Mendelssohn, Hilde Spiel, Hermann Kesten
.
In the Anglosphere, Lasky was best known for his role as Editor-in-Chief of Encounter
. He succeeded Irving Kristol
, the original editor and founder, in 1958 and helped turn the young magazine into one of the most highly regarded periodicals in Europe. Lasky steered Encounter to represented the point of view of the anti-Communist, anti-Totalitarian Left.
In 1967, it was revealed that, unbeknownst to Lasky, Encounter as well as Der Monat were two of many publications that had been funded covertly by the CIA via the Congress for Cultural Freedom (today Association for Cultural Freedom
). Despite a lack of evidence that those in charge of the magazine were aware of the source of the funding or that the CIA had ever pressured editorial decisions, the public perception of the Encounter was damaged. Lasky remained at Encounter until the magazine folded in 1991, while Der Monat was sold to Die Zeit
, and temporarily ceased publication in 1971. From 1978 until 1987, Der Monat (now titled Der Monat (Neue Folge) or simply Der Monat (N. F.)) re-surfaced as a Die Zeit quarterly without Lasky's involvement as editor-in-chief, but Lasky remained publisher along with his German wife Helga Hegewisch, while the journal's new editor-in-chief was SPD politician and later German Minister of Culture Michael Naumann
. A new economy & marketing publication called Der Monat appearing in Germany since 1997 has nothing to do with the former journal's socio-political concept and design.
, as well as in The Berlin Journal, Spring, 2007.
.
Anti-Stalinist left
The anti-Stalinist left is an element of left-wing politics that is critical of Joseph Stalin's policies and the political system that developed in the Soviet Union under his rule...
. He was the older brother of the influential entertainment lawyer Floria Lasky
Floria Lasky
Floria V. Lasky was an influential American lawyer in the theater world, who represented some of the biggest names in American entertainment....
and Joyce Lasky Reed, the President and founder of the Faberge Arts Foundation and former Director of European Affairs at the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
.
Early life and World War II
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and schooled at City College
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
and later the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, he would serve in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a combat historian for the 7th Army. Lasky remained in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
after the war, making his home in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he worked for American military governor Lucius D. Clay
Lucius D. Clay
General Lucius Dubignon Clay was an American officer and military governor of the United States Army known for his administration of Germany immediately after World War II. Clay was deputy to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1945; deputy military governor, Germany 1946; commander in chief, U.S....
. During this time, Lasky was an outspoken critic of the United States' earlier reluctance to intervene to stop the genocide of European Jews.
Political editor and publisher
He became editor of The New Leader and, later, of the German-language Der Monat ("The Month"). Lasky had founded the latter during the Berlin BlockadeBerlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
in 1948 as an anti-Communist but Leftist, socially progressive journal which became one of the leading Germanophone highbrow socio-political journals for decades, incorporating essays and articles from many Western European and North-American, as well as dissident East Bloc intellectual figureheads, such as George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
, Franz Borkenau
Franz Borkenau
Franz Borkenau was an Austrian writer. Borkenau was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a civil servant. As a university student in Leipzig, his main interests were Marxism and psychoanalysis...
, Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler CBE was a Hungarian author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria...
, Raymond Aron
Raymond Aron
Raymond-Claude-Ferdinand Aron was a French philosopher, sociologist, journalist and political scientist.He is best known for his 1955 book The Opium of the Intellectuals, the title of which inverts Karl Marx's claim that religion was the opium of the people -- in contrast, Aron argued that in...
, Ignazio Silone
Ignazio Silone
Ignazio Silone was the pseudonym of Secondino Tranquilli, an Italian author and politician.-Early life and career:...
, Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. Böll was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1967 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.- Biography :...
, Hans Sahl
Hans Sahl
Hans Sahl was a poet, critic, and novelist who began during the Weimar Republic. He came from an affluent Jewish background, but like many such German Jews he fled Germany due to the Nazis. First to Czechoslovakia in 1933, then to Switzerland, and then France...
, Max Frisch
Max Frisch
Max Rudolf Frisch was a Swiss playwright and novelist, regarded as highly representative of German-language literature after World War II. In his creative works Frisch paid particular attention to issues relating to problems of human identity, individuality, responsibility, morality and political...
, T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
, Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
, Milovan Djilas, Richard Löwenthal
Richard Löwenthal
Richard Löwenthal was a Jewish German journalist and professor who wrote mostly on the problems of democracy, communism, and world politics.- Life :...
, Peter de Mendelssohn, Hilde Spiel, Hermann Kesten
Hermann Kesten
Hermann Kesten was a German novelist and dramatist. He was one of the principal literary figures of the New Objectivity movement in 1920's Germany.The literary prize Hermann Kesten Medal has been given in his honor since 1985....
.
In the Anglosphere, Lasky was best known for his role as Editor-in-Chief of Encounter
Encounter (magazine)
Encounter was a literary magazine, founded in 1953 by poet Stephen Spender and early neoconservative author Irving Kristol. The magazine ceased publication in 1991...
. He succeeded Irving Kristol
Irving Kristol
Irving Kristol was an American columnist, journalist, and writer who was dubbed the "godfather of neoconservatism"...
, the original editor and founder, in 1958 and helped turn the young magazine into one of the most highly regarded periodicals in Europe. Lasky steered Encounter to represented the point of view of the anti-Communist, anti-Totalitarian Left.
In 1967, it was revealed that, unbeknownst to Lasky, Encounter as well as Der Monat were two of many publications that had been funded covertly by the CIA via the Congress for Cultural Freedom (today Association for Cultural Freedom
Association for Cultural Freedom
The Congress for Cultural Freedom was an anti-communist advocacy group founded in 1950. In 1967, it was revealed that the United States Central Intelligence Agency was instrumental in the establishment and funding of the group , and it was subsequently renamed the...
). Despite a lack of evidence that those in charge of the magazine were aware of the source of the funding or that the CIA had ever pressured editorial decisions, the public perception of the Encounter was damaged. Lasky remained at Encounter until the magazine folded in 1991, while Der Monat was sold to Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
, and temporarily ceased publication in 1971. From 1978 until 1987, Der Monat (now titled Der Monat (Neue Folge) or simply Der Monat (N. F.)) re-surfaced as a Die Zeit quarterly without Lasky's involvement as editor-in-chief, but Lasky remained publisher along with his German wife Helga Hegewisch, while the journal's new editor-in-chief was SPD politician and later German Minister of Culture Michael Naumann
Michael Naumann
Michael Naumann is a German politician, publisher and journalist. He was the German secretary of culture from 1998 until 2001. He is married to Marie Warburg, daughter of Eric Warburg and granddaughter of Max Warburg....
. A new economy & marketing publication called Der Monat appearing in Germany since 1997 has nothing to do with the former journal's socio-political concept and design.
Other activities and private life
Lasky was the author of many books including Utopia and Revolution, Voices in the Revolution, On the Barricades and Off, and The Language of Journalism. He was married twice, to Brigitte Lasky (née Newiger) with whom he had two children, Vivienne Lasky and Oliver Lasky, and to German novelist Helga Hegewisch.Death
Lasky died in May 2004 of a heart ailment. A portion of his unpublished memoirs appears in News from the Republic of LettersNews from the Republic of Letters
News from the Republic of Letters is the third magazine collaboration between Saul Bellow and Keith Botsford, following Noble Savage and ANON. The journal, originally based in Boston and now operated from the editor's home in Costa Rica, publishes new and newly-discovered writings from American and...
, as well as in The Berlin Journal, Spring, 2007.
The Lasky Center for Transatlantic Studies
In October 2010, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich will officially open the Lasky Center for Transatlantic Studies, a research center associated with the university's American Studies department. The Lasky Center will also be home to Lasky's personal library and papers. The first director of the Lasky Center will be Christof MauchChristof Mauch
Christof Mauch is a German historian, presently director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich, Germany, and since 2007 professor of American Cultural History and Transatlantic Relations at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen. From 1999 to 2007 Christof Mauch was...
.
See also
- Der Monat (German Wikipedia)
- Who Paid the Piper?: CIA and the Cultural Cold War, 1999, Granta, ISBN 1-86207-029-6 (USA: The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters, 2000, The New Press, ISBN 1-56584-596-X)
External links
- Melvin J. Lasky, 84; Outspoken Anti-Communist, Washington Post, May 27, 2004
- Cold Warrior: Saying goodbye to Melvin J. Lasky, Reason Online, June 2, 2004
- Letters They Wouldn't Publish, The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, January 23, 2006
- A Brief Encounter: Melvin Lasky is a legend. Better yet, he dislikes Maureen Dowd., Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2001
- Republic of Letters