Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. He was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai and Šilutė, in southwestern Lithuania), close to the Russian frontier. The Sudermanns were a Mennonite family long settled near the former Elbing, East Prussia, (now Elbląg), Poland).