Leo Lania ( 1896 – 9 November 1961) was a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He was born Lazar Herrmann to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

. Although born in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, Lania emigrated to

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

and served in the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war he became increasingly involved with

far-left politics Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

and political theatre. In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

he worked for the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

-affiliated Prometheus Film and wrote '' The Shadow of a Mine'' (1929) for the Volksfilmverband. He also produced the screenplay for

G. W. Pabst Georg Wilhelm Pabst (25 August 1885 – 29 May 1967) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He started as an actor and theater director, before becoming one of the most influential German-language filmmakers during the Weimar Republic. ...

's ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' (1931). During the late

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

era, Lania worked with the celebrated

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

directors

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...

and

Alexis Granowsky Alexis Granowsky (russian: Алексе́й Миха́йлович Грано́вский; 1890–1937) was a Russian theatre director who later became a film director. Granowsky was born as Abraham Azarkh to a Jewish family in Moscow. After stud ...

. Lania's play ''Konjunktur (Oil Boom)'' premiered in Berlin in 1928, directed by

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of ...

, with incidental music by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

. Three oil companies fight over the rights to oil production in a primitive Balkan country, and in the process exploit the people and destroy the environment. Weill's songs from this play, like "Die Muschel von Margate" are still performed. Lania was forced to emigrate from Germany following the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

takeover in 1933. He eventually settled in France. He worked on several screenplays, including fellow emigre

Robert Wiene Robert Wiene (; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a film director of the silent era of German cinema. He is particularly known for directing the German silent film ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' and a succession of other German Expressionism, ...

's ''

Ultimatum An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series o ...

'' (1938). Following the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

, Lania was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

by the Daladier government. Lania subsequently made his way to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

via

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Following the United States' entry into the war, Lania was employed by the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. He later returned to Germany and settled in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Selected filmography

* '' Um's Taegliche Brot - Hunger in Waldenburg '' (1929) * '' The Shadow of a Mine'' (1929) * ''

'' (1931) * ''

The Trunks of Mr. O.F. ''The Trunks of Mr. O.F.'' (German: ''Die Koffer des Herrn O.F.'') is a 1931 German comedy film directed by Alexis Granowsky and starring Alfred Abel, Peter Lorre, and Harald Paulsen. Produced by Tobis Film, it was made at the Johannisthal Studio ...

'' (1931) * '' A Woman Alone'' (1936) * ''

'' (1938) * ''

The Shanghai Drama ''The Shanghai Drama'' (french: Le drame de Shanghaï) is a 1938 French drama film directed by G. W. Pabst and starring Christl Mardayn, Louis Jouvet and Raymond Rouleau.Kennedy-Karpat p.132-33 An exiled White Russian woman works as a cabaret s ...

'' (1938) * '' The White Slave'' (1939) * ''

Cose da pazzi ''Crazy Affairs'' ( it, Cose da pazzi) is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by G. W. Pabst. In May 2016, it was shown as part of a retrospective of Pabst's films at the Filmarchiv Austria. Cast * Aldo Fabrizi as Gnauli * Carla Del Poggio as D ...

'' (1954) * ''

Melody of Hate ''Melody of Hate'' (German: ''Haß ohne Gnade'') is a 1962 West German thriller film directed by Ralph Lothar and starring Maria Perschy, Horst Frank and Dietmar Schönherr.Bock & Bergfelder p.131 Cast * Maria Perschy as Claudia / Martina * Horst ...

'' (1962)

References

Bibliography

* Barton, Ruth. ''Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film''. University Press of Kentucky, 2010. * Murray, Bruce Arthur. ''Film and the German Left in the Weimar Republic: From Caligari to Kuhle Wampe''. University of Texas Press, 1990.

External links

* 1896 births 1961 deaths Writers from Kharkiv People from Kharkov Governorate Ukrainian Jews Jewish Austrian writers Jewish artists Ukrainian communists Film people from Kharkiv Ukrainian screenwriters Ukrainian journalists Austrian communists Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to France Austrian male screenwriters People of the United States Office of War Information 20th-century Austrian journalists Burials at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf 20th-century Austrian screenwriters 20th-century Austrian male writers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Austria-Hungary {{Austria-journalist-stub