Alfred Neumann (15 October 1895 – 3 October 1952) was a German
writer of novels, stories, poems, plays, and films, as well as a
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
into German.
Biography
Neumann was born in
Lautenburg, Germany (now Poland). He was a recipient of the
Kleist Prize
The Kleist Prize is an annual German literature prize. The prize was first awarded in 1912, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the death of Heinrich von Kleist. The Kleist Prize was the most important literary award of the Weimar Repu ...
in 1926 and his writings were
banned during the Third Reich. His novel ''Der Patriot'' was turned into a play and
filmed in 1928, directed by
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as ...
. The film was
remade in France in 1938 directed by
Maurice Tourneur.
He was working in Italy when
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
came to power in 1933. The
Nazi party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
seized all his property due to his Jewish heritage. He remained in Italy until 1938 when he moved to France.
[ The French film '' La Tragédie impériale'' (1938), were based on his novel.
He moved to ]Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in 1941 and became a US citizen, where he stayed until 1949. His work as a screenwriter included ''None Shall Escape
''None Shall Escape'' is a 1944 war film. Even though the film was made during World War II, the setting is a post-war Nuremberg-style war crimes trial. Alexander Knox plays Wilhelm Grimm, a Nazi officer who is on trial, and the story unfolds th ...
'' (1944), ''Conflict
Conflict may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
* ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton
* ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne
* ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
'' (1945), and '' The Return of Monte Cristo'' (1946). Neumann produced the first successful stage adaptation of ''War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' in 1942. His novels included ''King Haber'' and ''The Devil''.[
Neumann was married to a Swiss dancer. They divorced and he then married the daughter of Georg Müller, the publisher, who published Neumann's first book of verse.][
He died in ]Lugano, Switzerland
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a popula ...
, aged 56.
References
External links
*
1895 births
1952 deaths
American male screenwriters
Kleist Prize winners
People from Lugano
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
German emigrants to the United States
{{US-screenwriter-stub