Salomo Friedlaender (4 May 1871 – 9 September 1946) was a German-Jewish philosopher, poet, satirist and author of grotesque and fantastic literature. He published his literary work under the pseudonym Mynona, which is the German word for "anonymous" spelled backward. He is known for his philosophical ideas on dualism drawing on Immanuel Kant, and his avant garde poetry and fiction. Almost none of his work has been translated into English.
Life
In 1894 he graduated from Gymnasium in Freiburg im Breisgau. Between 1894 and 1902, Friedlaender studied medicine, philosophy, German literature, archaeology, and art history in Munich, Berlin, and Jena. He wrote his dissertation on Arthur Schopenhauer and Kant. He approached the contemporary problems of his day through the lens of Kantian philosophy, in the footsteps of his teacher, the neo-Kantian Ernst Marcus. His most philosophical work, Die schoepferische Indifferenz (1918), Friedlaender built upon Kant's ideas to move beyond the classical dualism of subject and object in a purified, absolute self.
In 1906, Friedlaender moved to Berlin and began to publish literary writing under the pseudonym Mynona. He wrote several novels and countless poems and grotesques which were widely published in Expressionist periodicals such as Der Sturm and Die Aktion. He was part of the Berlin expressionist circle of Herwarth Walden, Else Lasker-Schueler, and Samuel Lublinski and an attraction at their public readings.<ref>Post, Chad W. (Oct. 31, 2014). [http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?id=12972 "Weekend Reading: "The Creator" by Mynona a.k.a. Salomo Friedlaender]. Three Percent / University of Rochester / Open Letter Books. Accessed April 2017.</ref>
In 1933, he fled to Paris to escape the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. In Paris, he wrote about confronting the will to annihilation of the Nazis by answering torture with laughter.
He was refused assistance to emigrate to the United States during World War II.
Work
Almost none of Friedlander's work has been translated into English. In 2014, an English translation of The Creator was published by Wakefield Press alongside a translation of "A Wearisome Wedding Night: A Grotesque."
Literature Durch blaue Schleier. Gedichte. A. R. Meyer, Berlin 1908. Erschien unter dem Namen Salomo Friedlaender.Rosa, die schöne Schutzmannsfrau. Grotesken. Verlag der Weißen Bücher, Leipzig 1913Für Hunde und andere Menschen. Der Sturm, Berlin 1914Schwarz-Weiß-Rot. Grotesken. Kurt Wolff Verlag, Leipzig 1916Hundert Bonbons. Sonette. Deckelzeichnung von Alfred Kubin. Georg Müller, München 1918Die Bank der Spötter. Ein Unroman. Kurt Wolff, München 1919The Creator. With illustrations by Alfred Kubin. Original publication: Kurt Wolff, München 1920. Published in English by Wakefield Press, 2014.Nur für Herrschaften. Un-Freud-ige Grotesken. Banas & Dette, Hannover 1920Unterm Leichentuch. Ein Nachtstück. Paul Steegemann, Hannover 1920 (mit Kubin-Illustrationen erstmals 1927)Mein Papa und die Jungfrau von Orléans. Nebst anderen Grotesken. Kurt Wolff, München 1921Das widerspenstige Brautbett und andere Grotesken. Kurt Wolff, München 1921Graue Magie. Berliner Nachschlüsselroman. Mit 6 Zeichnungen von Lothar Hohmeyer. Rudolf Kaemmerer, Dresden 1922. Reprint: Fannei & Walz 1989. Neuausgabe Ullstein, Berlin 1998, Trappistenstreik und andere Grotesken. Walter Heinrich, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1922The Operated Goy. 1922. Published in English by Routledge (UK), 1991. Tarzaniade Parodie. Verlag der Tageblatt-Buchhandlung, Hannover 1924Ich möchte bellen und andere Grotesken. Seeigel, Berlin 1924Das Eisenbahnglück oder der Anti-Freud Elena Gottschalk Vlg, Berlin 1925. Mit 10 Illustr. v. Hans BellmerMein hundertster Geburtstag und andere Grimassen. Jahode & Siegel, Wien 1928Hat Erich Maria Remarque wirklich gelebt? Der Mann. Das Werk. Der Genius. 1000 Worte Remarque. Paul Steegemann, Berlin & Leipzig 1929Der Holzweg zurück oder Knackes Umgang mit Flöhen. Paul Steegemann, Berlin 1931Der lachende Hiob und andere Grotesken. Editions du Phénix, Paris 1935