Johannes R. Becher

The author and politician Johannes R. Becher was born on 22nd May 1891 And attended school in Munich, Göttingen and Ingolstadt. In 1910 he tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide. From 1911-1918, he studied Philology, Philosophy and Medicine in Munich, Jena and Berlin. After this period he became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). In 1932 he was a candidate for parliament for the Communists. After the seizure of power of the Hitler-gang he left Germany first to Prague then Paris, later Moscow. In 1934 he lost his German nationality. After the war he came back to Germany. In 1949 he wrote the text for the East German national anthem. In 1950 he was one of the founders of the Academy of Arts and Member of the East German parliament. In 1953-56 he was president of the Academy of Arts (he followed Arnold Zweig), a nd from 1954-58 he was Minister for Culture. In 1957 he lost all his political power and died in 1958.