Peter Handke Biography: Awards, Parents, Books, Age, Height, Net Worth, Ethnicity, Religion

Peter Handke is an Austrian author, playwright, and filmmaker who became widely recognized following the publication of his debut novel The Hornets and the premiere of his experimental play Offending the Audience in 1966.

He is celebrated as a leading figure in the post-war German-language literary scene, known for challenging traditional storytelling and theatrical structures.

His exploration of language and human consciousness culminated in the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2019.

Quick Facts

• Full name: Peter Handke
• Date of birth: December 6, 1942
• Age: 83 years old
• Gender: Male
• Place of birth: Griffen, Carinthia, Austria
• Nationality: Austrian
• Profession: Novelist, Playwright, Screenwriter, Director
• Height: 1.83 meters
• Weight: 75 kilograms
• Eye color: Blue
• Hair color: Grey
• Parents: Maria Handke (mother) and Erich Schönemann (father)
• Siblings: Two half-siblings
• Spouse: Sophie Semin
• Children: Amina Handke, Léocadie Handke
• Relationship status: Married
• Religion: Roman Catholic
• Ethnicity: Carinthian Slovene and German
• Net worth: $5 million

Early Life and Education

Peter Handke was born on December 6, 1942, in Griffen, Austria.

His mother, Maria Handke, was Carinthian Slovene, and his biological father was German bank clerk Erich Schönemann, though he was raised by his stepfather, Bruno Handke.

He grew up with two half-siblings and experienced a challenging household due to his stepfather’s alcoholism.

Handke attended a Christian high school in Klagenfurt and later the Catholic Marianum boarding school at Tanzenberg Castle.

He enrolled at the University of Graz in 1961 to study law but left in 1965 after his first manuscript was accepted for publication, committing to a full-time writing career.

Personal Life

Peter Handke married his first wife, actress Libgart Schwarz, in 1966, and they had a daughter, Amina, in 1969.

The couple lived across Europe and the U.S. before divorcing in 1972. He then lived in Paris, raising Amina as a single parent.

Handke later had a high-profile relationship with French actress Jeanne Moreau.

In 1995, he married French actress Sophie Semin, and they have a daughter, Léocadie.

The family resides in Chaville, a suburb of Paris, where Handke has lived for over 30 years.

Career

Peter Handke began his literary career challenging the establishment of the 1960s, notably critiquing traditional descriptive writing at a Group 47 meeting.

His early plays, such as Kaspar, focused on language and identity rather than conventional plots.

Transitioning to prose, he explored isolation and internal character worlds.

In the 1970s, he entered filmmaking, directing The Left-Handed Woman and scripting The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick.

His 1980s work emphasized landscapes and narrative journeys, maintaining prolific output of plays, essays, and novels examining human experience.

Awards

• Gerhart Hauptmann Prize (1967)
• Schiller Memorial Prize (1973)
• Georg Büchner Prize (1973)
• Franz Kafka Prize (1979)
• Salzburg Festival Drama Award (1986)
• Austrian State Prize for Literature (1987)
• Bremen Literature Prize (1987)
• America Award in Literature (2002)
• Siegfried Lenz Prize (2014)
• International Ibsen Award (2014)
• Nobel Prize in Literature (2019)

Net Worth

Peter Handke has an estimated net worth of $5 million, earned through royalties from his extensive literary works and income from his contributions to European cinema, along with the financial prize from the Nobel award.

Social Media

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Filmography

• The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972)
• The Wrong Move (1975)
• The Left-Handed Woman (1978)
• The Absence (1992)
• Wings of Desire (1987)

Books

• The Hornets (1966)
• Offending the Audience (1966)
• Kaspar (1967)
• The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1970)
• Short Letter, Long Farewell (1972)
• A Sorrow Beyond Dreams (1972)
• A Sketch of Newness (1975)
• The Left-Handed Woman (1976)
• Slow Homecoming (1979)
• The Weight of the World (1980)
• Across (1983)
• Repetition (1986)
• The Afternoon of a Writer (1987)
• Absentee (1991)
• The Jukebox and Other Essays (1994)
• On a Dark Night I Left My Silent House (1997)
• Crossing the Sierra de Gredos (2002)
• Don Juan (2004)
• The Moravian Night (2008)
• The Great Fall (2011)
• The Fruit Thief (2017)