Hauptmann, Elisabeth

(1897-1973)

   Playwright. Hauptmann is best known for her collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, though she was a remarkable talent on her own. She arrived in Berlin at age 25, having worked as a private teacher since school graduation. Unable to finance university studies, she began attending a night school for adults in Berlin while working a day job for the Kiepenheuer publishing firm. At the school, she met Brecht and soon thereafter began assisting him, most significantly by providing him with ideas for plays. She was the source for The Beggar's Opera, having translated the Gay original for Brecht. She wrote much of the dialogue for the subsequent adaptation they created, Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera). Hauptmann likewise wrote most of the dialogue for Brecht's attempt to repeat Threepenny s success, Happy End. Brecht actually credited her for that work—though under the name "Dorothy Lane."

   Because she was an active member of the German Communist party, Hauptmann fled Berlin in 1933 and ended up in St. Louis, Missouri, where she lived for a time with her sister's family (their mother was a U.S. citizen); she later taught French at a branch of the University of Missouri. Her work with Brecht continued in the United States: in 1934 she assisted him in preparing the script for The Mother, and when Brecht arrived in California seven years later, she resumed her work with him, moving there herself in 1946 to assist Brecht with several projects. When Brecht left the United States, Hauptmann did likewise a year later. She settled in Berlin by 1949, where she continued working with the Berliner Ensemble, writing and translating projects for the company.