August von Kotzebue

August von Kotzebue (1761-1819) was a writer, dramatist, amateur theatre practitioner, editor, public intellectual and political actor. He is one of the first dramatists that became internationally known and his plays were translated to many languages already during his lifetime. He was particularly popular in amateur theatricals. With his "Almanach dramatischer Spiele" (1802 to 1820) he wrote and edited a series of easy pieces and one-act plays particularly suited for performance in amateur theatres. From 1784 to 1795 he was a writing and performing member of the amateur theatre in Reval (today Tallinn) in Estonia where he premiered most of his later famous pieces, e.g. "Menschenhaß und Reue" (1790), "Der Eremit auf Formentera" (1790), "Die Indianer in England" (1790).