Marcel Reich-Ranicki (2 June 1920 – 18 September 2013) was a Polish-German literary critic and member of the literary group Gruppe 47. He was regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the field of German literature and has often been called Literaturpapst ("Pope of Literature") in Germany.
Reich-Ranicki was born on 2 June 1920 in Włocławek, Poland. He was raised in Berlin, Germany. Reich-Ranicki was married to Teofila Reich-Ranicki from 1942 until her death in 2011. They had no children. Reich-Ranicki died on 18 September 2013 in Frankfurt, having previously been diagnosed with prostate cancer.