Arthur Drey

Born in Würzburg on September 9, 1890, Arthur Drey earned a doctorate in law in Marburg in 1913, but literature became a central part of his life. While studying in Berlin, he connected with Kurt Hiller’s circle and met important figures of early German Expressionism, including Georg Heym, Jakob van Hoddis, Ernst Blass, and Else Lasker-Schüler.

With Hiller’s support, Drey published expressionist poems in influential magazines such as Die Aktion and Der Sturm, and his work also appeared in the 1912 anthology Der Kondor. His best-known books are the 1919 drama Die Mordweih, noted for its antiwar stance, and the poetry collection Der unendliche Mensch.

Drey later worked as a commercial employee in Frankfurt am Main. In 1936 he was forced to emigrate; after going through Italy, he reached the United States in 1938. He died in New York City on July 1, 1965.