The Nobel prize winner for literature, Gunter Grass, has died at the age of 87 in Lübeck. This was announced by the Steidl publishing house. Born in 1927 in Gdansk, the German writer and poet had been among the representatives of Group 47, a movement that contributed to the rebirth of the in Germany after the dark era of Nazism.
His international success came in 1959 with "The Tin Drum", the first novel in the Gdansk trilogy which includes "Cat and Mouse" and "Years of Dogs". Social Democrat, exponent of European progressive culture, Grass in 2006 gave an interview to the Faz in which he confessed to having been part of the Waffen SS, military arm of the Nazi SS.
His political and social commitment has accompanied his life and his many works: in 1969 he mobilized German intellectuals to support the social democrat Willy Brandt and in 2002 he stood by Gerard Schroeder against the war in Iraq. His political passion has accompanied him throughout his life: just two years ago, the writer had turned to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, asking to open a new political phase and to put an end to mere austerity policies, he had spoken of the Greek situation and foreign policy.
Nobel Prize for literature in 1999, Grass was the author of novels, poems, plays, essays, up to the autobiography "Peeling the onion" in which, in addition to recounting the war years, he traces German history up to the 50 XNUMX. (AGI) .
