Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht was born on February 10, 1898, in Augsburg. In 1917, he enrolled in the medical school at the University of Munich but abandoned his studies, returned to Augsburg, and served for a time in a military hospital. His theatrical pursuits quickly gained recognition, earning him the Kleist Prize in 1922. A nonconformist and staunch opponent of war and capitalism, by 1923, he was already fifth on the blacklist of the National Socialist Party of Germany. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, Brecht went into exile, living in Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Russia, and finally the United States, where he collaborated in California with Charlie Chaplin and Charles Laughton. In 1949, he settled permanently in East Berlin, where he passed away in 1956.