German poet (profession: medical doctor, some of the time in the Wehrmacht), born in 1886, died in 1956. Known for a very strong, expressionistic language and a modern attitude. In the 1930's he flirted with national socialism, but was banned by the national socialist government in the late 1930's. After that, Benn went into the inner emigration. After world war II he became influential on the german post-war literature with his late publications. A short (german) biography and a photograph of Benn can be found at http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/BennGottfried/.