Ernst Toller

Ernst Toller was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician, and revolutionary known for his Expressionist plays. He served for six days in 1919 as president of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, after which he became head of its army. He was imprisoned for five years for his part in the Bavarian Soviet Republic's armed resistance to the central government in Berlin. In prison, Toller wrote several plays that gained him international renown. They were performed in London, New York City, and Berlin.