On the death of Dževad Karahasan
Einübung ins Schweben

On Friday 19 May 2023, the Bosnian contemporary author and Goethe Medal laureate Dževad Karahasan passed away at the age of 70.

It is with deep sadness that we remember the awardee of the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding 2004, the Goethe Medal 2012, the Goethe Prize 2020 of the City of Frankfurt and many other awards. Dževad Karahasan was closely associated with the Goethe-Institut Bosnia and Herzegovina since its foundation in 2000 and made an invaluable contribution to German-Bosnian cultural relations. Most of his works have been translated into German. In February this year, Dževad Karahasan's last novel "Einübung ins Schweben" was published in German by Suhrkamp Verlag, which he completed despite his serious illness and presented for publication in Berlin. Our thoughts are with his wife Dragana Tomašević-Karahasan, his friends and all the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina with whom we share the grief of losing one of the most important humanists of his homeland.
At the opening ceremony for the new accommodation of the Goethe-Institut BiH on 22 February 2022, Dževad Karahasan opened the "Verschwindende Wand". | © Goethe-Institut, Photo: Jasmin Agović