After deciding against a military career, he studied art history, archaeology, psychology, and philosophy at the University of Vienna. He spent much of the 1920s and 1930s abroad, mostly in Paris, studying modern art and publishing articles on the subject in British journals. An anglophile, he changed his first name to the English "George." He completed his first novel,
Auf dem Floß (On the Raft, 1948), in 1938 or 1939; because the Nazis were in power in Germany and Austria, the book was not published until after World War II.
During the war Saiko was the curator of graphic arts at the Albertina in Vienna. He prevented the plunder of the museum's collection by giving fakes to Nazi officials and, after the liberation of Vienna, to Soviet officers. He resigned from the position in a dispute with the state which was not settled until 1951. He remained in retirement until his death. During the 1950s he published his second novel and several short stories. Two volumes of his short stories were published in 1962.
Saiko's first story, "Das letzte Ziel" (The Last Goal), was published in the journal Der Brenner in 1913. After receiving a modest promotion, the middle-aged civil servant Schneider revives his hope of becoming a father; but his plan, announced abruptly after years of poverty and self-denial, meets with incomprehension on the part of his wife.
This is a free page. This page contains 198 words. This
biography contains 1,546 words (approx. 5 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our George Saiko Access Pass.
