- Born
- Died
- Birth nameLazar Herrmann
- Léo Lania was born in 1896 in Kharkov, Russian Empire [now Kharkiv, Ukraine]. Léo was a writer, known for The Threepenny Opera (1931), Melody of Hate (1962) and Cose da pazzi (1954). Léo died on November 10, 1961.
- Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Lania was interned by the Daladier government. Lania subsequently made his way to the United States via Spain and Portugal.
- He produced the screenplay for G. W. Pabst's The Threepenny Opera (1931).
- With the help of a forged letter of recommendation from Benito Mussolini's brother Arnaldo, disguised as an Italian fascist, he succeeded in gaining access to Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1923.
- Lania's play Konjunktur (Oil Boom) premiered in Berlin in 1928, directed by Erwin Piscator, with incidental music by Kurt Weill. Three oil companies fight over the rights to oil production in a primitive Balkan country, and in the process exploit the people and destroy the environment. Weill's songs from this play, like "Die Muschel von Margate" are still performed.
- After the first World War he became increasingly involved with far-left politics and political theatre. In Germany he worked for the Communist-affiliated Prometheus Film and wrote The Shadow of a Mine (1929) for the Volksfilmverband.
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