Max Wildi

Max Wildi was the son of a chemist and studied English language and literature in Zürich, Genève, and London from 1922. He received his Dr. philosophy in 1929.

After a short teaching career in Zuoz, Wildi worked as a professor of English literature at the commercial college in St. Gallen until 1947. He was also a rector of the university camp for Polish internees in Herisau from 1940-46. After teaching for several years as a private lecturer at the University of Zürich, he was appointed as a titular professor in 1948 and held this position until he died in 1982. From 1947-73 he was also a full professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich.

Wildi was particularly interested in the individual work of art, the act of artistic creation, and the existence of the artist within society. He wrote monographs on English-speaking writers including William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Thomas Stearns Eliot.