Erwin Axer

A long-time head of Teatr Współczesny (Contemporary Theatre) in Warsaw, he also staged numerous plays abroad, notably in German-speaking countries, in the US and Leningrad (USSR).

Although born in Vienna, Erwin Axer spent most of his early years in Lwów (modern Lviv, Ukraine).

Born to a wealthy Jewish family of Maurycy Axer, a noted lawyer, and Ernestine née Schuster, young Erwin decided to devote his life to theatre.

After the war he returned to Poland and in 1946 became the head of the Chamber Theatre of the Soldiers' House in Łódź, an institution that moved to Warsaw the following year and was renamed the Teatr Współczesny.

He was invited by Georgy Tovstonogov to direct three performances at Bolshoy Drama Theatre in Leningrad; the first of them, "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" by Bertolt Brecht in 1963, was recognised as one of the best shows of the decade and had a profound influence on the next generation of Russian directors.