Renowned German author Guenter Grass has passed away. He was 87.
According to his publisher, the Nobel literature prize winner took his last breath at a clinic in Luebeck, the BBC reported.
Grass was born in what was then called Free City of Danzig in Poland, and had served in the German military in World War II.
He had published his breakthrough anti-Nazi novel, 'The Tin Drum,' in 1959, and had become a vocal challenger of German reunification in 1990.
In a statement, German President Joachim Gauck said that Grass's work was "a formidable reflection of our country and a permanent part of its literary and cultural heritage."
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also conveyed via Twitter that he was "deeply dismayed" to hear of the author's death, while writer Salman Rushdie said that Grass was "a true giant, inspiration, and friend".
