Beckett, Samuel Barclay

Irish dramatist, novelist, and poet, who wrote in both French and English. He won international acclaim for his work, which includes the play En attendant Godot – first performed in Paris in 1952, and then in his own translation as Waiting for Godot in London in 1955 and New York in 1956 – and for his later dramas, such as Fin de partie/Endgame (1957–58) and Happy Days (1961). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. Grappling with fundamental problems of identity, choice, purpose, knowledge, and narration, his characters demonstrate a distinctive compound of despair, endurance, and wit.

Beckett was born in Foxrock, near Dublin, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He lectured in English in Paris, France, where he was a member of the same circle of artists as Irish writer James Joyce. Beckett lectured in French at Trinity College 1930–31, but abandoned his academic career. After several years of European travel, in 1937 he settled in Paris, where he spent most of the rest of his life. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his service in the French Resistance.