Jelinek, Elfriede

The Austrian author Elfriede Jelinek was born in Mürzzuschlag in the federal state of Steiermark, where Jelinek spent her summer holidays at the family farm after the family moved to Vienna. Many of Jelinek’s stories are set in Steiermark, although she describes herself as "ein Wienerin". She began to study the organ and the recorder in 1960, and later went on to study composition at the Vienna conservatory as well as drama and history of art at the University of Vienna and joining the student movement in 1969. In 1972 Jelinek lived in Berlin and in 1973 in Rome. She was a member of the Communist party between 1974 and 1991. In 1974, she married Gottfried Hüngsberg, who was part of the group around Rainer Werner Fassbinder.