Ernst Toller

Born on December 1, 1893, in Samotschin in Prussia, Ernst Toller became one of the best-known German dramatists of the 1920s. He studied in France and Germany, but World War I changed his life: after serving in the German army, he became a committed opponent of war, and that transformation shaped both his politics and his writing.

Toller emerged as a major figure in German Expressionist theater, writing plays that mixed intense feeling with social protest. He was also deeply involved in revolutionary politics after the war and, during the upheaval of 1919, briefly served as president of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic. After its collapse he was imprisoned, and some of his most important works were written during those years.

As the Nazis rose to power, Toller went into exile and continued to speak out against fascism. His books were among those targeted by the Nazi regime, but his reputation as a dramatist, poet, and political writer has endured. He died in New York City on May 22, 1939.