Peter Weiss

Peter Weiss
Peter Weiss
	Weiss speaking at the acceptance ceremony for the Bremen Literature Prize, 1982
Born	Peter Ulrich Weiss; 8 November 1916; Nowawes, Brandenburg, Germany
Died	10 May 1982 (aged 65); Stockholm, Sweden
Citizenship	Czechoslovakia; Sweden (after 1946);
Education	Polytechnic School of Photography; Academy of Fine Arts, Prague
Works	Marat/Sade; The Investigation; The Aesthetics of Resistance;
Movement	Avant-garde
Spouse	; Helga Henschen (m. 1943; div. 1947) ; Carlota Dethorey (m. 1949, annulled) ; Gunilla Palmstierna (m. 1964) ;
Awards	See below

Peter Ulrich Weiss (8 November 1916 – 10 May 1982) was a German and Swedish writer, painter, graphic artist, and experimental filmmaker. He is particularly known for his plays Marat/Sade and The Investigation and his novel The Aesthetics of Resistance, the latter of which has been called one of the "most important German-language work[s] of the 70s and 80s."

Weiss earned his reputation in the post-war German literary world as the proponent of an avant-garde, meticulously descriptive writing, as an exponent of autobiographical prose, and also as a politically engaged dramatist. He gained international success with Marat/Sade, the American production of which was awarded a Tony Award and its subsequent film adaptation directed by Peter Brook. His "Auschwitz Oratorium" The Investigation, served to broaden the debates over the so-called "Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit" (or formerly) "Vergangenheitsbewältigung" or "politics of history". Weiss's magnum opus was The Aesthetics of Resistance, .