Paul Hofmann, Author and Foe of Nazis, Dies at 96
Paul Hofmann, a Viennese who resisted the rise of Nazism in his homeland, acted as an informer for the Allies while serving on the staff of the German commandants of occupied Rome during World War II and later became a foreign correspondent for The New York Times and a prolific author of travel books, died Tuesday in Rome. He was 96.
His death was announced by his son Alexander Hofmann-Lord.
A diminutive, dapper man who spoke German, Italian, French and English fluently and several other languages more than passably, Mr. Hofmann had a broad grasp of history and diplomatic affairs and an often playful curiosity.
In 1958, for instance, when Mr. Hofmann was reporting on the death of Pope Pius XII, he described how Sister Pasqualina, a German-born nun who had been the pope’s housekeeper for many years, left the papal summer residence at Castel Gondolfo bearing six warblers in a cage. One of them, Mr. Hofmann wrote, was a goldfinch named Gretel that the pope had found as a fledgling in the papal gardens and had affectionately tamed.
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His death was announced by his son Alexander Hofmann-Lord.
A diminutive, dapper man who spoke German, Italian, French and English fluently and several other languages more than passably, Mr. Hofmann had a broad grasp of history and diplomatic affairs and an often playful curiosity.
In 1958, for instance, when Mr. Hofmann was reporting on the death of Pope Pius XII, he described how Sister Pasqualina, a German-born nun who had been the pope’s housekeeper for many years, left the papal summer residence at Castel Gondolfo bearing six warblers in a cage. One of them, Mr. Hofmann wrote, was a goldfinch named Gretel that the pope had found as a fledgling in the papal gardens and had affectionately tamed.