Kastner, Erich

Kästner, Erich 

Born Feb. 23, 1899, in Dresden. German writer (Federal Republic of Germany).

Kästner is the author of collections of satirical verse such as Heart on the Waist (1928) and the sociocritical novel Fabian (1931; Russian translation, 1933). Among his many books written for children are Emil and the Detectives (1928; Russian translation, 1971), The Tomboy and Anton (1929), Till Eulenspiegel (1935), and The Animals’ Conference (1949). Under fascism Kästner’s books were banned; they were published abroad. After World War II (1939–45) he exposed West German militarism and wrote the antifascist play The School of Dictators (1956). Kästner won the G. Büchner literary prize in 1957. He is president of the FRG branch of the International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists (PEN).

WORKS

Gesammelte Schriften für Erwachsene, vols. 1–4, 6–8. Munich-Zürich, 1969.
Notabene 45: Ein Tagebuch. Frankfurt-Hamburg, 1966.
In Russian translation: Malen’kaia svoboda: Stikhi. Moscow, 1962.
Mal’chik iz spichechnoi korobki. Moscow, 1966.

REFERENCES

Sedel’nik, V. “Erikh Kestner—satirik i vospitate’,.” Detskaia literatura, 1970, no. 5.
Enderle, L. E. Kästner in Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. [Hamburg, 1966.]