- Richard Plant
Richard Plant (
July 22 ,1910 —March 3 ,1998 ) was a German-American writer. He is said to have written, in addition to the works published under his own name, several detective novels or "Kriminalromane", on which he collaborated withDieter Cunz andOskar Seidlin , and which were published under the collective pen-name ofStefan Brockhoff .Cf. Stefan Brockhoff, "Schuß auf die Bühne" (Leipzig, Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, 1935); "id.", "Musik im Totengässlein" (Bern, etc., Goldmann, 1936); "id.", "Drei Kioske am See" (Leipzig, Goldmann, 1937); "id.", "Begegnung in Zermatt" (Munich, Goldmann, 1955). Another novel, entitled ‘Verwirrung um Veronika’, is said to have been serialized in the "Zürcher Illustrierte" in 1938. Cf. Angelika Jockers and Reinhard Jahn, eds., "Lexikon der deutschsprachigen KrimiAutoren" (2nd ed., rev.; Munich, Verlag der Criminale, 2005). The present writer is unable independently to corroborate the attribution in question.]Richard Plant was born Richard Plaut in
Frankfurt am Main to the family of the town councillor Theodor Plaut. Upon the accession of the Nazis to power in Germany in 1933 and the zealous enforcement of the provisions of Paragraph 175 of the criminal code against homosexuality, he was obliged to leave Germany for Switzerland in concert with his partner,Oskar Seidlin Fact|date=February 2008. Here he obtained a doctorate from the University of Basle (Universität Basel ) in 1935 with a dissertation onArthur Schnitzler , written under the supervision of Franz Zinkernagel (1878–1935) and Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer (1864–1937).Published as: Richard Plaut, "Arthur Schnitzler als Erzähler" (Frankfurt am Main, Kornsand, 1935).]His first non-academic book seems to have been a children’s tale, "Die Kiste mit dem großen S.", published in 1936.Richard Plaut, "Die Kiste mit dem großen S.: Eine Geschichte für die Jugend", with illustrations by Lucy Sandreuter (Aarau, Sauerländer, 1936). This was issued in a Dutch translation the following year.] This was followed in 1938 by his "Taschenbuch des Films".Richard Plaut, "Taschenbuch des Films" (Zurich, Albert Züst, 1938).] In the same year, Richard Plaut arrived in the United States, where he eventually adopted the name Richard Plant. Here another children’s book, "S.O.S. Geneva", co-authored with
Oskar Seidlin , was published in October 1939."S.O.S. Geneva, by Richard Plant and Oskar Seidlin", with drawings by William Pène du Bois (New York, Viking Press, 1939). This was issued in Switzerland as: "S.O.S. Genf: Ein Friedensbuch für Kinder", with illustrations and dust-jacket design by Susel Bischoff (Zurich, Humanitas Verlag, 1940).] His next book had to await the end of the Second World War, when "The Dragon in the Forest" appeared in 1948.Richard Plant, "The Dragon in the Forest" (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1948).]From 1947 to 1973, Plant taught at the
City University of New York , and discontinuously also at theNew School for Social Research .Plant, who was
gay ,citation |title=The Ideal Gay Man: The Story of Der Kreis |first=Hubert C. |last=Kennedy |year=1999 |publisher=Haworth Press |isbn=0789006898 |page=39 ] is the author of "The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War against Homosexuals" (1986; German translation, 1991).Richard Plant, "The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War against Homosexuals" (New York, H. Holt, 1986); "id.", "Rosa Winkel: Der Krieg der Nazis gegen die Homosexuellen", translated from the English by Danny Lee Lewis and Thomas Plaichinger (Frankfurt am Main, CampusVerlag, 1991).]Plant died in
New York City onMarch 3 ,1998 .He is to be identified as the writer the
Library of Congress database categorizes as ‘Plant, Richard, "fl." 1939–1948’, not ‘Plant, Richard, b. 1910’.ee also
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History of gays in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust References
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