Literary Encyclopedia

Georg Kaiser

  • Rhys W. Williams (University of Wales, Swansea)

The author of over seventy plays, several novels, poetry and film scripts, Georg Kaiser is considered one of the most important dramatists of the Expressionist period. Born in Magdeburg on 25 November 1878, he left school in 1895 and followed his father into business, working in Argentina, Spain, Italy and Germany. From early on, he was committed to a literary career and this ambition, allied to fragile health, led him to abandon his business profession. He began writing plays as a schoolboy and continued to harbour ambitions as a dramatist. Marriage in 1908 to a wealthy wife enabled him to embark on his literary career: the early influence of Gerhart Hauptmann and Frank Wedekind gave way to that of Hugo von Hofmannsthal's neo-Romanticis

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First published 21 November 2006

Citation: Williams, Rhys W.. "Georg Kaiser". The Literary Encyclopedia. 21 November 2006

[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2432, accessed 30 July 2010.]

 

Life, Works and Times

Dates:

  • 1878 to 1945 (Life Span)
  • 1898 to 1945 (Activity Span)

Places:

  • Germany (Birth)
  • Germany (Primary Activity)

Activities:

  • Dramatist/ Playwright (Primary)