Erwin Axer (1 January 1917 – 5 August 2012) was a Polish theatre director, writer and

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

. A long-time head of Teatr Współczesny (Contemporary Theatre) in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, he also staged numerous plays abroad, notably in German-speaking countries, in the USA and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(USSR). Laureate of Witkacy Prize - Critics' Circle Award (1993).

Life and career

Although born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Erwin Axer spent most of his early years in Lwów (modern

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, Ukraine). Born to a wealthy Jewish family of Maurycy Axer, a noted lawyer, and Ernestine née Schuster, young Erwin decided to devote his life to theatre. In late 1930s his début was '' Moon of the Caribbes'' by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

. In 1938 he also staged ''Nędza uszczęśliwiona'' by Maciej Kamieński and ''The Tidings Brought to Mary'' by

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

. The following year he graduated from the State Institute of Theatrical Art and directed ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' ( sv, Fröken Julie) is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of ...

'' by

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

. However, the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

and the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

put his career to an end. He spent the first years of the Soviet occupation in Lwów, where he made his living acting and staging dramas in the communist-controlled ''Polish Dramatic Theatre'', the only Polish-language theatre left open in the city. However, following the German takeover of the city and the arrest of his father, Axer moved to Warsaw. He took part in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

of 1944 and was taken prisoner by the Germans and sent to a quarry in Germany as a slave worker. After the war he returned to Poland and in 1946 became the head of the ''Chamber Theatre of the Soldiers' House'' in Łódź, an institution that moved to Warsaw the following year and was renamed the Teatr Współczesny. Axer headed that theatre for almost 40 years and retired only in 1981, following the imposition of the Martial Law in Poland. Between 1954 and 1957 he also headed the National Theatre, the most prestigious scene in post-war Poland. Since 1949 he was also a professor at the Warsaw-based Theatrical Academy. After 1962 Axer regularly directed plays abroad. Among the countries he visited were Germany, Switzerland, USSR, USA and the Netherlands. He was invited by

Georgy Tovstonogov Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov (russian: Георгий Александрович Товстоногов, – 23 May 1989) was a Russian- Georgian theatre director. He was the leader of the Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater which was renamed afte ...

to direct three performances at Bolshoy Drama Theatre in Leningrad; the first of them, "

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (german: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui, links=no), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago m ...

" by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

in 1963, was recognised as one of the best shows of the decade and had a profound influence on the next generation of Russian directors. Since 1972 he has been a collaborator of the Viennese

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in Vi ...

References

Bibliography

*Magdalena Prokopowicz (ed.): "Żydzi Polscy. Historie niezwykłe". Warszawa: Wydawnictwo DEMART, 2010. .

External links

*
Erwin Axer
at culture.pl {{DEFAULTSORT:Axer, Erwin 1917 births 2012 deaths People from Lviv Austrian Jews Austrian emigrants to Poland Polish people of Austrian-Jewish descent Polish theatre directors Recipients of the Order of the Banner of Work Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland)