Hermann Kant

Hermann Kant (German: [ˈhɛʁ.man kant]] ; 14 June 1926 – 14 August 2016) was a German writer noted for his writings during the time of East Germany. He won the Heinrich Mann Prize in 1967. He served the Stasi as an informer under the codename IM Martin.

Early life

Hermann Kant was born on 14 June 1926 in Hamburg, Germany the son of a factory worker and a gardener born into poverty. His younger brother, Uwe Kant, became a well-known children's author. Because of the impending bombing of Hamburg during the Second World War, the family moved to Parchim in 1940, where his paternal grandfather lived as a master potter. After passing elementary school he began an electrician apprenticeship in Parchim, which he completed in 1944. On 8 December 1944 he was drafted into the German Military. He became a Polish POW, was held in Warsaw's Mokotów Prison and later was transferred to a labor camp, which was located on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. He was the co-founder of the antifascist committee and teacher at the Anti-fascist Central School. During this time he met the writer Anna Seghers, who would have a lasting impression on him. After being released as a prisoner of war in 1949, he moved to East Germany and joined the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.

Kant finished High School in 1952 at the "Workers' and Peasants Faculty" in Greifswald. From 1952 to 1956 he studied German literature at the Humboldt University of Berlin. His thesis was entitled "The representation of the ideological-political structure of the German fascist army in Pliviers novel Stalingrad." After graduating he worked until 1957 as a research assistant at the university and was also the editor of the student magazine, Tua res, from 1957 to 1959. In 1960, Kant became a freelance writer and member of the Writers' Union of East Germany.