(October 16, 1927- )
Born in Free City of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland)
Wrote 'The Tin Drum' (1959), 'Cat and Mouse' (1963), 'Dog Years' (1965), 'Four Plays' (1967), 'In the Egg and Other Poems' (1977), 'The Rat' (1987), 'My Century' (1999), 'Crabwalk' (2002) and 'Peeling the Onion' (2006)
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1999)

He served in the Waffen SS during World War II.
He did not disclose his membership until 2006, which is ironic for an author whose works are mostly about Germany coming to terms with its Nazi past.
Journalist Joachim Fest said, 'I can't understand how someone who for decades set himself up as a moral authority, and a rather smug one, could pull this off.'
Christopher Hitchens suggested that the revelation was a stunt to drum up publicity for his latest book.
Other critics suggested that he kept the information secret until after he had won the Nobel Prize because he knew the Nobel committee would not give the prize to a former SS member.

Authors John Irving and Salman Rushdie said his reputation as an author should not be 'undone' by a 'youthful mistake.'
He was named an honorary citizen of Gdansk.
He proposed the creation of a German-Polish museum for art stolen by the Nazis.

Credit: C. Fishel

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For 2009, as of last week, Out of 28 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
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