Friedrich Wolf (writer)

Friedrich Wolf
Friedrich Wolf (1952)
Born	23 December 1888 Neuwied, Rhine Province, Germany
Died	5 October 1953 Lehnitz (Berlin), Brandenburg, Germany
Occupation	Physician writer politician Diplomat
Political party	KPD (1926) SED (1950)
Spouse(s)	Kaethe Gumpold (1914) Else (Eva) Dreibholz (1922)
Children	Johanna Marie (1915) Lukas (1919) Markus (1923–2006) Konrad (1925–1982) by Irmgard Schaaf Thomas Naumann (1953)
Parent(s)	Max & Ida Wolf

Friedrich Wolf (23 December 1888 – 5 October 1953) was a German doctor and politically engaged writer. From 1949 to 1951, he served as East Germany's first ambassador to Poland.^[1]

Life

Wolf was born in Neuwied (Rhine Province), the son of a Jewish merchant.

From 1907 until 1912 he studied medicine, philosophy and art history in Munich, Tübingen, Bonn, and Berlin and became a doctor in 1913. In 1914 he worked first as a ship's doctor on the route between Canada, Greenland and the United States, and then in the same year became a field doctor on the Western Front in World War I; this experience made him a strong opponent of war. In 1917 he published his first prose pieces.

DDR stamp of Wolf, 1988

In 1918 he became a member of the Workers council in Dresden and joined the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany. After the war he worked as a doctor in Remscheid and Hechingen, where he focused on care for common people and prescribed treatment using naturopathic medicine. In 1923 and 1925 his sons Markus and Konrad were born. After 1928 he became a member of the Communist Party and the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors. In 1929 his drama "Cyankali" sparked a debate about abortion, and he was briefly arrested and charged for performing abortions.

In early 1932 he founded the Spieltrupp Südwest in Stuttgart, a communist agitprop group of lay actors that created controversial pieces about current topics.

After the Nazis came to power, Wolf emigrated with his family to Moscow. In 1938 he made his way to Spain to work as a doctor in the International Brigades. However, he was arrested in France and interned in the concentration camp Le Vernet. In 1941 he gained Soviet citizenship and returned to Moscow where he became a founder of the National Committee for a Free Germany (NKFD).

In 1945 he returned to Germany and was active in literary and cultural-political issues. From 1949 to 1951 he was the first ambassador of East Germany to Poland. On 5 October 1953 he died in his personal office in Lehnitz.

The less known curious side of Wolf was that he had also been a holistic healer, nudist, vegetarian, author, with an interest in fitness.^[2]

Works

• Mohammed (1917, drama)
• "Langemarck" (1917, story)
• Das bist du (1919, drama)
• Der Unbedingte (1919, drama)
• Die Schwarze Sonne (1921, drama)
• Tamar (1922, drama)
• Die Schrankkomödie (1923, drama)
• Der Arme Konrad (1923, drama)
• Das Heldenepos des alten Bundes (1924)
• Kreatur (1925, novel)
• Kolonne Hund (1926, drama)
• Äther (1926)
• Die Natur als Arzt und Helfer (1927)
• Koritke (1927, drama)
• "Der Kampf im Kohlenpott" (1927, novella)
• Cyankali" (1929, drama)
• Die Matrosen von Cattaro" (1930, drama)
• Tai Yang erwacht (1930, drama)
• Professor Mamlock (1933, drama)
• Floridsdorf (1934, drama)
• Das trojanische Pferd (1935, drama)
• Zwei an der Grenze (1938, novel)
• Beaumarchais (1940, drama)
• "Der Russenpelz" (1942, novella)
• Heimkehr der Söhne (1944, novel)
• Dr. Lilli Wanner (1944, drama)
• Was der Mensch säet (1945, drama)
• Die letzte Probe (1946, drama)
• Märchen für große und kleine Kinder (1946)
• Wie Tiere des Waldes (1947, drama)
• The Council of the Gods (Der Rat der Götter) (1949, filmscript)
• Bürgermeister Anna (1949, comedy)
• Menetekel (1952, novel)
• Thomas Müntzer (1952, drama, film expose)

Awards and decorations

• Order of the Red Star (1943)
• National Prize of East Germany
  • 2nd class for Professor Mamlock (1949)
  • 1st Class for The Council of the Gods (1950)

Literature

• Hoffmann, Stefan Gotthelf: Der Rest ist Schweigen! Erdachte Gespräche mit Friedrich Wolf (1888–1953). Edition Schwarzdruck, Gransee 2013, ISBN 978-3-935194-63-1.
• Müller, Henning: Friedrich Wolf : 1888–1953. Deutscher Jude, Schriftsteller, Sozialist. (Jüdische Miniaturen; Bd. 78) Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-938485-90-3.
• Müller, Reinhard: Was ist ein Mensch? Aus der Moskauer Kaderakte Friedrich Wolfs. In: Einspruch. Schriftenreihe der Friedrich-Wolf-Gesellschaft. Exil in der Sowjetunion. Herausgegeben von Hermann Haarmann und Christoph Hesse. Marburg 2010, p. 23–52.

References