Egon Ammann

Born 1941 in Bern/Switzerland.

Egon Ammann studied classical philology in Fribourg/Switzerland and Zurich/Switzerland with a study visit in Istanbul/Turkey. After the completion of his studies he did a publisher’s apprenticeship in Bern/Switzerland. In the 1960s, the foundation and management of the Kandelaber Verlag in Bern followed until its liquidation.

Egon Ammann works as a publishing editor for contemporary literature in Bern, Zurich, Barcelona/Spain, Madrid/Spain and Frankfurt and he was managing director of the Suhrkamp Verlag Zurich. In 1981 he founded the Ammann Verlag with Marie-Luise Flammersfeld, which they successfully managed together until 2010. Egon Ammann is the editor of major editions of works by Fernando Pessoa, Ossip Mandelstam, Antonio Machado, Ralph Ellison, Fjodor Dostojewskij, Ismail Kadare, as well as the panorama of the Polish literature of the 20th century and the contemporary literature from all over the world.

He received numerous awards, among others: Magma-Preis (1986), Zurlauben-Preis (1993), Prix Max Petitpierre (1997), Aargauer Kulturpreis (2000), Deutsches Bundesverdienstkreuz I. Klasse (2001).