Eugen Roth

Born in Munich on January 24, 1895, Eugen Roth was a German poet and writer best remembered for humorous verse. He served in the First World War, and later built a literary career that made him especially popular with general readers.

Roth became famous for his Ein Mensch poems and other short, playful pieces that observe ordinary habits, weaknesses, and contradictions with sympathy rather than cruelty. His writing is often described as cheerful and reflective at the same time, which helped make him one of the best-known popular poets in the German-speaking world.

He died in Munich on April 28, 1976. Even decades later, he is still associated with a very approachable kind of poetry: clever, concise, and deeply interested in what makes people human.