Bertolt Brecht was
born in Augsburg on 10 February 1898 and died in Berlin on 14 August
1956. He grew to maturity as a playwright in the frenetic years of the
twenties and early thirties, with such plays as "Man equals Man",
"The Threepenny Opera" and "The Mother". He left
Germany when Hitler came to power in 1933, eventually reaching the United
States in 1941, where he remained until 1947. It was during this period
of exile that such masterpieces as "Life of Galileo", "Mother
Courage" and "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" were written.
Shortly after his return to Europe in 1947 he founded the Berliner Ensemble,
and from then until his death was mainly occupied in producing his own
plays.
From John Willett & Ralph Manheim: Brecht Collected
Plays: Two, Methuen, 1994
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