Joseph Gregor

Joseph Gregor (* 26 October 1888 Czernowitz – 12 October 1960 Vienna) was an Austrian writer, theatre historian and librettist. He served as director of the Austrian National Library.
Life and career.
Joseph Gregor was born in Czernowitz. He studied musicology and philosophy at Vienna University, graduating in 1911. He worked under Max Reinhardt as assistant director and from 1912-14 as a lecturer in music at the Franz-Josephs-University of Chernivtsi. He was employed at the Austrian National Library in Vienna in 1918. There he founded the Theatre Collection in 1922, in which he included film after 1929. He also taught from 1932–38 and 1943–45 at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar for actors. In 1953 he retired from his position at the National Library.
Gregor's role in the era of National Socialism has been disputed controversially: Gregor incorporated many libraries of politically persecuted intellectuals into the Austrian National Library. Some say he did so in order to save these libraries, others say Gregor profited from the political persecution. A typical example is Gregor's acquisition of Stefan Zweig's autograph collection in 1937; Gregor corresponded frequently with Zweig. Oskar Pausch argues that Gregor was trying to protect Zweig's collection after the regime change in 1938, whereas others evaluate the librarian's role more critically.
He was cremated at Feuerhalle Simmering, Vienna, where his ashes are located in the arcade court. His son Čestmír Gregor became a noted composer.
Collaboration with Richard Strauss.
A year after the seizure of power by the National Socialists in Germany, Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig fled to London, leaving Richard Strauss to look for a new librettist. Originally recommended by Zweig, Joseph Gregor wrote three librettos for Richard Strauss: "Friedenstag" (1938), "Daphne" (1938) and "Die Liebe der Danae" (1944), as well as contributing to the texts of "Capriccio" (1942) and the posthumous school opera "Des Esels Schatten". Never completely convinced of Gregor's talent as a librettist, Strauss rejected his drafts for three other works: "Celestina", "Semiramis" and "Aphrodite's Revenge".
Strauss was planning in 1940, at the suggestion of Heinz Drewes and Hans Joachim Moser, to collaborate with Gregor on a reworked libretto for the opera "Jessonda." When Gregor offered to rewrite the text of the opera "Die schweigsame Frau" to replace Stefan Zweig's libretto, Strauss refused and also withdrew from the "Jessonda" project.
Contributions to National Socialist propaganda.
Gregor became one of the main theater scholars in the service of the Third Reich. Not only his non-fiction works, but also the libretto to the Strauss opera Friedenstag, were popular among ranking Nazis. Simply the fact that he published as much as he did in the period between 1940 and 1944 makes it clear that he enjoyed favor among high-ranking officials. His 1943 book on the Theater of the "Volk" of the "Ostmark" made ostentatious use of ideologically laden terms. In 1944 alone, six publications by Gregor appeared on the book and music market, which was otherwise severely restricted by paper shortages and fascist censors. His contributions to Third Reich propaganda remain ambiguous, however, because he was long considered to be Jewish. Gregor himself staunchly denied his semitic roots.
Works (all in German).
Gregor was one of the leading theater scholars of his time. He wrote several standard works, including the periodical titled "Schauspielführer: Lexikon der deutschsprachigen und internationalen Dramatik" with Margret Dietrich and Wolfgang Greisenegger, both of whom went on to prestigious careers as theater scholars at the University of Vienna. The book saw several editions. In addition, Gregor wrote biographies of Alexander the Great, William Shakespeare, and Richard Strauss.