Background
Barbara Honigmann is the daughter of German-Jewish emigrants, who returned to East Berlin in 1947 after a period of exile in Great Britain. Her mother, Litzi Friedman, was the first wife of Kim Philby and her father, Georg Honigmann, was the chief editor of the "Berliner Zeitung".
Education
From 1967 to 1972, she studied theatre at Humboldt University in East Berlin.
Career
In the following years she worked as a dramatist and director in Brandenburg and Berlin. She has been a freelance writer since 1975. In 1984, she left the German Democratic Republic and currently lives with her family in Strasbourg.
Membership
Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur. Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung.