Writer and cultural critic Robert Menasse was born in Vienna in 1954. He studied German studies, philosophy, and political science in Vienna, Salzburg, and Messina, later teaching at the University of São Paulo for six years. Since returning from Brazil in 1988, he has primarily lived in Vienna, where he works as a writer and cultural critic. Menasse has received numerous awards for his work, including the Marburg Literature Prize and the European Book Prize for his novel Die Erweiterung (Enlargement), as well as the German Book Prize for Die Hauptstadt (The Capital).