Feuchtwanger, Lion (1884–1958)

German author. He published the novels Die hässliche Herzogin/The Ugly Duchess 1923 and Jud Süss/Jew Süss 1925. The latter presents a picture of the lives of central European Jews in the 18th century. His Erfolg 1929 bears a close resemblance to Arnold Zweig's novel The Case of Sergeant Grischa, its theme being founded on the unavailing attempts of a determined woman to secure the freedom of a man wrongly condemned to prison.

Feuchtwanger was born in Munich and studied philosophy in Berlin and Munich. In 1907 he published a widely noticed dissertation on Heinrich Heine's fragment Der Rabbi von Bacherach, and a play, Der Fetisch. His first novel, Der tönerne Gott, appeared 1911, followed by a tragedy, Julia Farnese 1915, as well as a refurbishing of the old German play Vasantasena. He adapted The Persae of Aeschylus and the Acharnians and Peace of Aristophanes in the burlesque Friede 1918. Of his dramas, Warren Hastings appeared 1916 and König und Tänzerin 1917. His trilogy Josephus, based on the life of the Jewish historian, was published in England 1933. Other works include Die Geschwister Oppermann 1933, Der falsche Nero 1936, and his autobiography, Unholdes Frankreich 1942. From 1941 onwards Feuchtwanger lived in California.