Peter Weiss (1916–1982)
Born November 8, 1916, in Nowawes near Berlin; emigrated to England in 1935; attended art academy in Prague in 1935–38; emigrated to Sweden via Switzerland in Jan. 1939, worked as painter; first German-language prose texts in 1947; appearance of Der Schatten des Körpers des Kutschers (The Shadow of the Coachman's Body) in 1960; international success as playwright began in 1964 with premiere of Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats dargestellt durch die Schauspielgruppe des Hospizes zu Charenton unter Anleitung des Herrn de Sade (generally known as Marat/Sade)(Schillertheater Berlin, directed by Konrad Swinarski) and especially Peter Brook's production in London; wrote Die Ermittlung (The Investigation) during first Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial in 1965; Viet Nam Diskurs appeared in 1968, Die Ästhetik des Widerstands (The Aesthetics of Resistance) in 1975/78/81; died in Stockholm on May 10, 1982; posthumously awarded Büchner-Preis in 1982.