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Lisel Mueller

1924 – 2020

German-American poet and translator

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About Lisel Mueller

Lived 1924 – 2020 (aged 96). Lisel Mueller was an American and German poet, writer, librarian, translator and social worker.

Lisel Mueller (born Elisabeth Neumann, February 8, 1924 – February 21, 2020) was a German-born American poet, translator and academic teacher. Her family fled the Nazi regime, and she arrived in the U.S. in 1939 at the age of 15. She worked as a literary critic and taught at the University of Chicago, Elmhurst College and Goddard College. She began writing poetry in the 1950s and published her first collection in 1965, after years of self-study. She received awards including the National Book Award in 1981 and the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1997, as the only German-born poet awarded that prize. an elementary teacher, sustained the family. In 1935, her father was interrogated by the Gestapo for four days. Dependencies (1965)

Translation She published several volumes of translation, including Selected Later Poems of Marie Luise Kaschnitz (1980) 1990: Carl Sandburg Award

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Important facts

Birth century
Education
University of Evansville
Employers
Goddard College
Awards
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; National Book Award; Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize; Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany; Lamont Poetry Prize; National Book Award for Poetry; Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

People in Lisel Mueller's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Lisel Mueller's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Lisel Mueller?

German-American poet and translator (1924-2020)

When was Lisel Mueller born?

Lisel Mueller was born on 8 February 1924 in Hamburg.

When did Lisel Mueller die?

Lisel Mueller died on 21 February 2020 in Chicago.

What was Lisel Mueller's occupation?

Lisel Mueller was a poet, writer, librarian, translator and social worker.

What nationality was Lisel Mueller?

Lisel Mueller was American and German.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Lisel Mueller

· Wikidata: Q6558751

· DBpedia: Lisel Mueller

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Lisel Mueller. https://biography.guide/lisel-mueller/

MLA: "Lisel Mueller." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/lisel-mueller/.

Chicago: "Lisel Mueller." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/lisel-mueller/.

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