Wolfgang Schreyer

Wolfgang Schreyer (20 November 1927 – 14 November 2017) was a German writer of fiction, historic adventures mixed with documentary, science fiction for TV shows and movies and is best known as the author of over 20 adventure stories.

Wolfgang Schreyer was born the son of a pharmacist.

On leaving secondary school he was conscripted as a Flakhelfer before, in April 1944, he joined the Nazi Party and served in the Wehrmacht.

He became a POW and was released by the Americans in 1946.

From 1947 until 1949 he was a chemists' apprentice, working in that profession until 1950.

From 1950 to 1952, he was the manager of a pharmaceutical company in the German Democratic Republic.

Since the publication of his first crime novel, Großgarage Südwest, he worked as a freelance author.

He travelled several times to the Caribbean and to the United States.

Since 1952,he was a member of the East German authors guild, since 1974 a member of P.E.N.; and since German reunification in 1990 he was a member of the German authors guild.

In 1956, Schreyer was awarded the Heinrich-Mann-Preis.

Since 1958, the GDR's Staatssicherheitsdienst (Stasi) kept him under special surveillance.

Until 1972 Schreyer lived in Magdeburg; since then he lived in Ahrenshoop on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Schreyer was the author of numerous novels, which are mainly considered entertainment, containing some criticism of society.

Most successful were the stories set in Central America and the Caribbean, in which he skillfully mixed fiction and documentary.

Other works are crime stories, a science-fiction story, film scripts, TV and radio drama.

Having sold more than five million copies, Schreyer is considered one of the most successful East German authors.

Schreyer died on 14 November 2017 at the age of 89.