Egon Friedell (born as Egon Friedmann on 21 January 1878 in Vienna, died 16 March 1938 in Vienna) was an Austrian author, journalist, actor, cabaret artist and theatre critic .

Friedell was born as the third child of the Jewish silk manufacturer Moriz Friedmann and his wife Karoline (née Eisenberger). In 1887, his parents divorced and his mother left the family. After his father's death in 1891, Friedell lived with his aunt in Frankfurt am Main, where he attended school until he was expelled for unruly behaviour two years later. Even at this time, Friedell was considered a trouble maker and free thinker. He attended several schools in Austria and Germany, until he finally passed his abitur at the fourth attempt in Heidelberg in 1899.

In 1897, he had already enrolled as a guest student at Berlin University, reading German literature, natural sciences and philosophy. After passing his abitur, he enrolled at Heidelberg University, in order to study under Kuno Fischer, a historian of philosophy and follower of Hegel. In 1897, Friedell converted to the Lutheran faith. In 1899, he accepted his inheritance, which enabled him to live financially independently in Vienna.

From 1900 to 1904, Egon Friedell studied philosophy in Vienna for nine terms. In 1904, he received his PhD for his thesis Novalis as a Philosopher before starting to perform in a cabaret. In 1905, he published his article Prejudices in Karl Kraus's journal Fackel , which includes the following quote:

The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game...

From 1908 on, Friedell published essays and one-act plays. His first literary effort was The Paraffin King. The sketch comedy Goethe made him famous in the German speaking countries. He also became the director of the cabaret Fledermaus.

There he stood, Egon Friedell, Doctor of Philosophy, jester of the audience, and like most jesters, far superior to his master. (Felix Salten)

In 1910, Samuel Fischer commissioned Friedell to write a biography of Peter Altenberg. However, Fischer, who had expected something light, was unsatisfied by the book titled Ecce poeta, an analysis and critique of culture. The book, which was not promoted in any way, was a commercial failure, but marked the beginning of Friedell's interest in cultural history.

In 1912, Friedell performed in Berlin, and in 1913, he worked as an actor for Max Reinhardt for a short time. From 1914 on, Friedell suffered from alcoholism and obesity, and had to undergo treatment at a sanatorium near Munich. Friedell was as enthusiastic about the beginning of World War I as most of his contemporaries.

In 1916, he officially changed his family name to Friedell. He had used Friedländer as a pen name for several of his publications, but had not used his family name Friedmann since his student days. In 1916, Friedell published the Judas Tragedy, and in 1922, he published Quarry — Miscellaneous Opinions and Quotations. In 1924, a satricial treatment of the journal Stunde ended his work as a critic for this publication: Friedell was fired as a "traitor."

From 1919 to 1924, Friedell worked as a journalist and theatre critic for various publishers including the Neues Wiener Journal. He also accepted an offer from Max Reinhardt to work as a dramatic advisor , theatre director and actor for the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and the Burgtheater in Vienna. From 1927 on, his health problems prevented any permanent commissions, and he worked as an independent essayist, author and translator in Vienna.

During this time, Friedell wrote the three volumes of his Cultural History of the Modern Age, which describes events from the Renaissance to the age of imperialism in anecdotes. In 1925, the publisher Hermann Ullstein received the first volume, but he was suspicious of the historiography of an actor. After five other publishers had rejected the book, it was finally published by Heinrich Beck in Munich in 1927. The book proved very successful and allowed Friedell to continue his work as an author. It has been translated into seven languages.

After the National Socialists came to power in Germany in 1933, all German and Austrian publishers refused to publish his works. In 1935, Friedell described the regime as

the realm of the Antichrist. Every trace of nobility, piety,

education, reason is persecuted in the most hateful and base manner by a bunch of debased menials.

In 1936, the first part of Friedell's Cultural History of Antiquity was published by Helikon in Zurich. Late in 1937, Friedell's works were confiscated by the National Socialist regime as they did not conform to the theory of history promoted by the NSDAP. In February 1938, Friedell's cultural history was banned in Germany. On the occasion of the Anschluss of Austria, Friedell told Ödön von Horvath in a letter written on 11 March: "I am always ready to leave, in every sense." Friedell began thinking about acquiring poison or a pistol.

On 16 March 1938, at about 22:00, two SA men called at Friedell's house in order to take him away. While they were still arguing with his housekeeper, Friedell committed suicide by jumping out of the window. Friedell, of whom Hilde Spiel said "in him, the exhilarating fiction of the homo universalis rose once again", was interred in the Zentralfriedhof.