Lukas Hartmann Explained

Lukas Hartmann
Birth Date:	29 August 1944
Birth Place:	Bern, Switzerland
Occupation:	Novelist, author, children's writer
Birth Name:	Hans-Rudolf Lehmann
Genre:	Novels and Children's literature
Yearsactive:	since 1976
Awards:	Lukas Hartmann#Awards
Spouse:	Simonetta Sommaruga

Lukas Hartmann (29 August 1944 born as Hans-Rudolf Lehmann) is a Swiss author.

Life and work

Born as Hans-Rudolf Lehmann in Bern, his mother was a farmer's daughter and his father was a shoemaker, later auxiliary postman and department manager at the Swiss Post. His mother had a creative streak, which passed to both sons. Hartmann's younger brother Jürg became a journalist, and now heads the Ringier Group school of journalism. Lukas Hartmann wrote his first stories at the age of 13. He completed a teacher training course in Bern with majors in German, history and music, and worked first as a teacher. He then decided to pursue further studies in psychology, but he did not graduate, and later worked as a social worker, journalist and writer.^[1] His novels Anna - annA and Pestalozzis Berg have been filmed.

Hartmann's grandmother was one of the so-called Verdingkinder, hence Hartmann is one of the most prominent supporters of the so-called Wiedergutmachungsinitiative.^[2] In April 2018, Ein Bild von Lydia was published, a historical novel about Lydia Welti-Escher.^[3]

Since 1996 Hartmann has been married to the Swiss politician Simonetta Sommaruga.^[4] At the end of October 2022, he suffered a stroke, so his wife announced her resignation as Federal Councillor at the end of 2022.^[5]

Awards (excerpt)

• 1995: Schweizer Jugendbuchpreis for So eine lange Nase.
• 2010: Grosser Literaturpreis von Stadt und Kanton Bern

Bibliography (highlights)

Novels

• 1978: Pestalozzis Berg. Zytglogge, Gümligen, .
• 1980: Gebrochenes Eis: Aufzeichnungen. Arche, Zürich, .
• 1982: Mahabalipuram oder Als Schweizer in Indien. Ein Reisetagebuch. Arche, Zürich, .
• 2003: Die Tochter des Jägers. Nagel & Kimche, Zürich, .
• 2013: Abschied von Sansibar. Diogenes, Zürich, .
• 2015: Auf beiden Seiten. Diogenes, Zürich, .
• 2016: Ein passender Mieter, Diogenes, Zürich,
• 2018: Ein Bild von Lydia, Diogenes, Zürich,
• 2021: Schattentanz: Die Wege des Louis Soutter, Diogenes, Zürich,

Children's literature

• 1984: Anna annA. Zytglogge, Gümligen, .
• 1987: Joachim zeichnet sich weg. Ein Roman für Kinder. Nagel & Kimche, Zürich, .
• 1990: Die wilde Sophie. Nagel & Kimche, Zürich, .
• 1994: So eine lange Nase. Nagel & Kimche, Zürich, .
• 2006: Heul nicht, kleiner Seehund! Kinderroman. Illustrations by Julia Friese. Bajazzo, Zürich, .
• 2007: Spuren in der Polenta. Essgeschichten und Rezepte für Kinder. Illustrations by Larissa Bertonasco. Bajazzo, Zürich, .

Plays

• 1976: Beruhigungsmittel.
• 1977: Familiefescht.

Radio

• 1976: Em Pfarrer sy Scheidig for Schweizer Radio DRS.
• 1984: Auf dem Scherbenberg for DRS.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Lukas Hartmann. Eintrag "Hartmann, Lukas" in Munzinger Online/Personen - Internationales Biographisches Archiv, Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg. German. 2015. 2015-04-19.
2. Web site: Sie zeigten dem Vormund einfach das schönste Zimmer des Hofs. Beobachter. Otto Hostettler, Interview with Lukas Hartmann. German. 2015-03-30. 2015-04-19.
3. Web site: Lukas Hartmann Bücher. Ex Libris (bookshop). German. 2018-04-06.
4. Web site: Schriftsteller Lukas Hartmann feiert seinen 75.. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. German. 2019-08-29. 2022-11-04.
5. Web site: 2022-11-02 . Überraschender Rücktritt - Bundesrätin Simonetta Sommaruga tritt zurück . 2022-11-25 . Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) . de.