Franz Fühmann
(born 15.01.1922 in Rochlitz an der Iser, Czechoslovakia; died 08.07.1984 in Berlin), author
Franz Fühmann briefly began studying mathematics before becoming a communications soldier during the Second World War. During this time he published his first poems in the weekly newspaper "Das Reich". After four years as a Soviet prisoner of war, Fühmann lived in the GDR, where he ranked as one of the country's most important writers, until his death. In addition to poems, essays and stories, he also wrote retellings and children's books, such as a child-friendly version of "Das Nibelungenlied" (1971). Many titles were autobiographical, such as the volume of short stories “Das Judenauto" published in 1962 (“The Jew Car”, trans. by Isabel Fargo Cole). Franz Fühmann was awarded the Geschwister Scholl Prize and the Heinrich Mann Prize.