Waldtraut Lewin facts for kids

Waldtraut Lewin (born January 8, 1937 – died May 20, 2017) was a German writer, a person who helps create plays (called a dramaturge), and a director for the stage.

Her Life Story

Waldtraut Lewin was born in Wernigerode, a small town in Germany. It's located near the Harz Mountains, between the cities of Hanover and Leipzig. Her mother was a singer.

After finishing school, Waldtraut went to the Humboldt University of Berlin. From 1961, she studied German language and literature, Latin, and Theatre studies, which is the study of theater.

From 1961 to 1973, she worked at the Regional Theatre in Halle. She was a music-dramaturge, helping with the music side of plays, and a stage director. Her daughter, Miriam Margraf, who later became a writer and music critic, was born in 1964 during this time. While in Halle, Waldtraut also translated the words (libretti) for sixteen operas by George Frideric Handel from Italian. She won the Handel Prize from the city of Halle in 1970.

In 1973, Lewin moved to the Rostock People's Theatre. There, she worked as an opera producer and the main dramaturge for music theater. Between 1977 and 1979, she wrote the words for Rosa Laub, which was East Germany's first rock opera. It was first performed in Rostock. By 1977, Waldtraut Lewin had started working for herself as a freelance writer.

She published her first novel in 1973. This book, "Herr Lucius und sein Schwarzer Schwan," was a historical novel, meaning it was a story set in the past. Many of her later books were also historical novels. Her next book, Die Ärztin von Lakros, came out in 1977. After 1977, her main job was being a freelance author. She published about 70 books, including twelve she wrote with her daughter. She also wrote biographies, which are life stories, about people like George Frideric Handel and Julius Caesar. As she wrote more, she started focusing on books for young adults and teenagers. She also wrote radio plays, opera words (libretti), and screenplays for movies. She translated books from French, Russian, and Italian.

Waldtraut Lewin passed away in May 2017 in Berlin. A few months before, she had celebrated her 80th birthday in Israel.

When East Germany was changing, a government agency called the Stasi (Ministry for State Security) tried to destroy many of their old files. These files were about how they watched and monitored people. People protested to stop the destruction of these records. Many files survived. Later, when people looked through the Stasi files, they found that Waldtraut Lewin was identified as someone who had secretly given information to the Stasi between 1975 and November 1988. Her code name in the files was "IM Wald." People who knew her said that she would have picked a better code name for herself! They also said that the files showed no one was harmed because of her reports. However, after these connections became known, some big publishers stopped publishing her books.

Her Family

Both of Waldtraut Lewin's children, Miriam Margraf and Niklas Lewin, are writers.

Awards and Prizes

Her Books (a selection)