Hans Koning

Hans Koning was born Hans Koningsberger in Amsterdam and was a student when World War II broke out and the Germans invaded. He escaped through an underground network and joined the British Army. After the war, he attended the University of Amsterdam and the Sorbonne, simultaneously working as a full-time writer and journalist. In 1951, Koning ended up on a freighter to the United States, where he continued to work as a freelance writer and began The Affair (1958), the first of his thirteen novels. His novels are concerned with personal fates but as he became more involved in political causes, his literary focus broadened, and shows the author’s intense awareness of the human condition. During the Vietnam War, Koning turned his attention to protest activities. When the Vietnam War ended, Koning and his family entered a self-imposed exile in England. In addition to his books, plays, and translations, he wrote political-travel pieces as a reporter-at-large for The New Yorker and has reported for The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times.

Koning died at 85 in 2007.