About Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. In 1964, Biermann performed for the first time in West Germany. After the Second World War, he became a member of the Free German Youth (Freie Deutsche Jugend, FDJ) and in 1950, he represented the Federal Republic of Germany at the FDJ's first national meeting. Despite his successful defense of his thesis, he did not receive his diploma until 2008, when he was also awarded an honorary doctorate degree.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.