Ulrich Plenzdorf

Ulrich Plenzdorf (1934–2007) was a German writer, screenwriter, and dramaturge. He studied Marxism-Leninism and philosophy in Leipzig, later attended the German Academy of Film in Potsdam-Babelsberg, and began working as a screenwriter and dramaturge at the DEFA Studio Babelsberg in 1963. He became known for the socially critical novel “The New Sorrows of Young W.”, originally written as a stage play, premiered in 1972, and translated into more than 30 languages. His screenplays included “The Legend of Paul and Paula,” “The Drinker,” and “Abgehauen.” Plenzdorf received the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1973 and the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 1978. From 1992, he was a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.