Bertolt Brecht

Bertolt Brecht, the German poet and playwright was born on February 10, 1989 and died on August 14, 1956. His name when he was born was Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht. He lived in Bavaria (part of Germany), where he was born, until 1924. He studied medicine and worked in an army hospital. He wrote his first play, “Baal”, in 1923.

He became a Communist because he did not like how things had become after the end of World War I. There were some high social classes that had more money and thought that they were better than regular people.  Since he was a Communist, it was not good for him to be in Germany at that time. He left Germany and lived in Scandinavia, then in the United States. In Germany, his books were burned, and he lost his citizenship. He stayed in the United States until 1947, then he went back to Europe.

After writing his first play in 1923, he continued to write, wherever he was. He wrote many plays and poems. He also did some movies. In 1943, he wrote the play, "The Life of Galileo".