Erasmus Schöfer (4 June 1931 – 7 June 2022) was a German writer. He was a member of the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...

and took part in resistance against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and rearmament, among others, and became the chronicler of resistance in Germany in his main work, a

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies ...

of novels, ''Die Kinder des Sisyfos'' (''The Children of

Sisyphus In Greek mythology, Sisyphus or Sisyphos (; Ancient Greek: Σίσυφος ''Sísyphos'') was the founder and king of Ancient Corinth, Ephyra (now known as Corinth). He reveals Zeus's abduction of Aegina (mythology), Aegina to the river god As ...

''). It is based on recent history, from the protests of 1968 in West Germany up to the political and social developments of the 1980s until

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

. He also wrote poetry, stories, plays and audio plays.

Career

Schöfer was born on 4 June 1931 in Altlandsberg and grew up in Berlin. After studying in Berlin for several semesters, he worked for three years in production companies in Berlin and Cologne, including

Osram OSRAM Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). OSRAM positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and trea ...

and Schwank. In 1955, he returned to studies of German, philosophy and linguistics, now in Cologne and including one year of research in Paris. In 1962, Schöfer received his doctorate in Bonn from the linguist

Leo Weisgerber Johann Leo Weisgerber (25 February 1899, Metz – 8 August 1985, Bonn) was a Lorraine-born German linguist who also specialized in Celtic linguistics. He developed the "organicist" or " relativist" theory that different languages produce differe ...

. His thesis was titled ''Die Sprache Heideggers'' (Heidegger's language), and was published as a book by Neske. Schöfer then worked, first in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and then in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, as a freelance correspondent of several newspapers, focused on cultural topics. He also wrote audio plays for broadcasters in both parts of Germany. He wrote three plays which premiered in Freiburg,

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, and

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; South Franconian: ''Brusl'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Bruchsal is the lar ...

. Schöfer's political engagement began with resistance against the

. He took part in major protests. He became known in Germany when he and other authors founded the work circle in 1970. The authors encouraged literature focused on the work place. He served as its speaker until 1973, and was editor of many of the collected writings. He was a member of the

. In the 1980s, Schöfer lived in Greece for several years. In 1980, he became member of the

PEN Centre Germany PEN Centre Germany is part of the worldwide association of writers founded in London in 1921, now known as PEN International. One of over 140 autonomous PEN centres around the world, PEN Centre Germany is based in Darmstadt, Hesse. Work PEN Ce ...

. Schöfer published his main work, a

of novels ''Die Kinder des Sisyfos'', between 2001 and 2008. It deals, as a , with the history of the

Protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

in West Germany, developing biographies of characters in the context of the political and social battles of the 1970s and 1980s.

Work

Schöfer's first book of ''Erzählungen'' (stories) was published by

Fischer Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher. People with the surname A * Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official * ...

in 1979. A novella, "Der Sturm" (The storm), appeared by

Kiepenheuer & Witsch Kiepenheuer & Witsch is a German publishing house, established in 1948 by Joseph C. Witsch and Gustav Kiepenheuer. The partners initially held 30% and 40% of the company's share capital respectively. The publisher is based in Cologne, Germany an ...

, more stories entitled ''Flieg Vogel stirb'' (Fly bird die) were published by Weltkreis-Verlag. After one year in Greece, his first novel was called ''Tod in Athen'' (Death in Athens), published in 1986. From 2001, the volumes of his epic tetralogy ''Die Kinder des Sisyfos'' were published by Dittrich Verlag in Berlin. The work deals, as a , with the history of the

in West Germany, developing biographies of characters in the context of the political and social battles of the 1970s and 1980s, from the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

. His invented characters, including teachers, actors and workers, deal with large demonstrations against rearmament, the Vietnam War, nuclear power plants and plant shutdowns. The four volumes were ''Ein Frühling irrer Hoffnung'' (A spring of mad hope, 2001), ''Zwielicht'' (Twilight, 2004), ''Sonnenflucht'' (Sun's flight, 2005), and ''Winterdämmerung'' (Winter's dusk, 2008). He added a fifth volume as an index to political and social background facts. The Klartext-Verlag in Essen published a collection of his essays, ''Diesseits von Gut und Böse'' in 2011, and a selection of his audio plays, ''Na hörn Sie mal!'', in 2012. Schöfer was awarded the in 2008, for ''Sisyfos''. His literary legacy (''Vorlass'') is held by the in

Personal life

Schöfer was married to Christiane Bruhn, who was engaged at theatres in Cologne and Neuss in the 1970s and 1980s. They had four children. He died in Cologne on 7 June 2022, three days after his 91st birthday.

References

External links

*
Erasmus Schöfer
profile at LITon.NRW (in German)
Erasmus Schöfer
profile at Dittrich Verlag (Archived 2017; in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Schofer, Erasmus 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century German male writers 21st-century German male writers German Communist Party members People from Märkisch-Oderland