BALL, HUGO

born Feb. 22, 1886, Pirmasens, Ger. died Sept. 14, 1927, St. Abbondio, Switz. writer, actor, and dramatist, a harsh social critic, and an early critical biographer of German novelist Hermann Hesse (Hermann Hesse, sein Leben und sein Werk, 1927; Hermann Hesse, His Life and His Work). Ball studied sociology and philosophy at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg (190607) and went to Berlin (1910) to become an actor. He was a founder of the Dadaist movement in art. A staunch pacifist, Ball left Germany during World War I and moved to neutral Switzerland (1916). His more important works include Kritik der deutschen Intelligenz (1919; Critique of German Intelligence) and Die Flucht aus der Zeit (1927; The Flight from Time).