Leo Birinski (June 8, 1884 – October 23, 1951) was a
playwright,
screenwriter and
director. He worked in
Austria-Hungary,
Germany and in the
United States. As a
playwright in
Europe, he gained his biggest popularity from 1910 to 1917 but was ultimately forgotten. From the 1920s to 1940s he worked mainly as a
screenwriter, first in
Germany, later in the
United States, to which he emigrated in September 1927. In the United States, he also returned to writing stage plays. He wrote in
German and
English. Until recently, only a minimal amount of information about his life has been available. Complicating matters, there have been many legends and rumours concerning Birinski's person, including the false report of his "suicide" in 1920 that found its way from newspaper obituaries into encyclopedias.
Variations in his name
Born Leo Gottesmann, he was most commonly known as Leo Birinski, the name he began to use after approximately 1908. “Birinski” was his mother’s surname, and “Gottesmann,” his birth name, was his father’s surname.
Other recorded variations in spelling and form:
Leo G. Birinski,
Leo Birinsky,
Lev G. Birinski,
Lev Birinskij,
Lav Birinski,
Leó Birinszki,
Lev Birinszki, and
Leon Birinski.
Biography
The circumstances of Birinski's early life are unclear, as; different sources offer a variety of possibilities for his place and date of birth.
He was probably born on June 8, 1884, in
Lysianka,
Kiev Governorate,
Russian Empire (in present-day
Ukraine). He occasionally presented this information in official documents, though it is impossible to confirm because the local birth records for
Lysianka were not preserved.
His father, Hersch Gottesmann, was born in
Borschiv in eastern
Galicia and was a salesman (he indicated "Agent" as his employment in registration forms). His mother, Carna, born Berinska or Birinska, was a tenant's daughter from
Lysianka. Birinski spent his childhood in
Ukraine and
Czernowitz, the capital city of the
Austro-Hungarian province of
Bukovina.
At the beginning of the 20th century (either in 1901 or 1904, according to varying sources), he moved to
Vienna. He worked in a bookshop, turned to translating, and started to write by himself. During his time in Vienna, he wrote three plays, the
tragedies, Der Moloch (The Moloch) and Raskolnikoff (after the novel Crime and Punishment by
Dostoevsky), and his most successful
comedy or
tragicomedy, Narrentanz (Dance of Fools), written in 1912. In March 1920, a rumor of suicide, caused by a case of mistaken identity with a man named Leon Gottesmann, was spread in the local newspapers. Although repeatedly discredited, the report was included in several contemporary encyclopedias. In April 1921, Birinski left
Vienna and moved to
Berlin.
In
Germany, Birinski appears to have married Jewish pianist Felicia Aschkenas, who born around 1902 in
Warsaw. At this time, he worked primarily for the film industry, wrote many
screenplays, and together with
Paul Leni,
directed the motion picture Das Wachsfigurenkabinett. During his time in Germany, he contributed to the screenplays of thirteen films, including Tragedy of Love with
Marlene Dietrich, Varieté by
Ewald André Dupont, and several pictures by
Gennaro Righelli. Birinski also wrote the stage play, Der heilige Teufel (Rasputin). Its original German text was lost, but a later English version still exists. Around September 1927, Birinski left for the
USA; two years later, his wife followed him. They both identified themselves to the immigration officers by
Nicaraguan passports. Birinski even listed the city of
Bluefields in
Nicaragua as his birthplace. He had no known ties to Nicaragua.
Birinski also wrote several stage plays in the
United States. His play, Nowhere Bound, was presented on Broadway in January 1935 at the
Imperial Theatre, and The Day Will Come in September 1944 at the
National Theatre. In addition to these works, a manuscript of a stage play, The Holy Devil (Rasputin), by Birinski was found among the papers left by
Herman Bernstein, a journalist and writer who died in August 1935. This play was likely never performed or published.
The events of the last seven years of Birinski's life are largely unknown. According to his death certificate, Leo Birinski died on October 23, 1951, at
Lincoln Hospital in
The Bronx,
New York City. The certificate includes almost no information about the deceased. It appears that Birinski died in poverty and alone. He was buried at the
Potter's Field at
Hart Island in a mass-grave ("plot 45, section 2, no. 14"). In 2009, Birinski's relatives living in
Israel and the United States were found.
Works
Theatre
Poster for world premiere of Moloch. Neue Wiener Bühne
Vienna: January 21, 1910.
Poster for world premiere of Raskolnikoff. Fürstliches Hoftheater
Gera: April 9, 1913.
Poster for world premiere of Narrentanz. Lessing-Theater
Berlin: September 28, 1912.
Poster for Czech premiere of Raskolnikov. Theatre Ty-já-tr
Prague: December 11, 2009.
Der Moloch (The Moloch),
tragedy in three acts (1910). Premiere: January 21, 1910, Neue Wiener Bühne
Vienna.
Other productions in
German: Modernes Theater
Berlin (1910), Deutsches Theater
Cologne (1911), Volkstheater
Munich (season 1910 / 1911), Altes Stadt-Theater
Leipzig (season 1910 / 1911) etc.
Raskolnikoff (aka Raskolnikow),
tragedy in three acts after
Dostoevsky (the first reference in 1910, published 1912). Play based on the novel Crime and Punishment. Premiere: April 9, 1913, Fürstliches Hoftheater
Gera.
Other productions in
German: Residenz-Theater
Berlin (1917), Wiener Kammerspiele
Vienna (1917).
Translated into:
Croatian: Joza Ivakić (1916), title Raskoljnikov, production in
Osijek (1916).
Reversal translation from
Czech into
German(!!!): Jiří Vrba and Stephan Stroux (1969), title Mummenschanz. Premiere: September 5, 1971,
Volkstheater, Vienna.
Hungarian:
Ferenc Herczeg (1913), title Bolondok tánca, production in
Budapest (1913). Miklós Győrffy (1994), title Bolondok tánca; production in
Szeged (1994),
Marosvásárhely (1995),
Budapest (1998),
Pécs (2009). An unknown translator (2002), title Maskarádé, production in
Budapest (2002).
Danish: Carl Behrens (1913), title Narredans, production in
Copenhagen (1913).
Russian: Oleg Malevych and Viktoria Kamenskaya (2004), title: Хоровод масок (Khorovod masok), in: Baltiyskiye sezony no. 10/2004,
Saint Petersburg. Produced as one-time diploma performance at State Theater Institute in
Yaroslavl (June 2010).
There are mentioned translations into
English and
Japanese too, but they are not credited.
Nur Ruhe!,
farce in three acts by
Johann Nestroy, adapted for modern stage by Leo Birinski (published 1913). Premiere: January 5, 1914, Deutsches Volkstheater
Vienna.
Der heilige Teufel (Rasputin), play written before 1927. Not published and not produced till this time. Its German text was not found.
The Holy Devil (Rasputin), play in three acts (written before 1935). English version of the older German play. Not published and not produced till this time. Typescript of its text was found in
Herman Bernstein papers.
I Gave My Wife to the King (not realised) – story,
USA 1936. Banned by
MPPDA according to
Hays Code. Movie should concern about the affair of former king
Edward VIII and
Mrs. Wallis Simpson.