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Birthday
Samuel Barclay Beckett was born in a Dublin suburb called Foxrock in Ireland. -
Portora Royal School
At age 14, he attended Portora Royal School, where Oscar Wilde had also attended. -
Trinity College
From 1923 to 1927, Beckett attended Trinity College and studied literature and French and Italian. During this time, he would watch play and movies. -
Lecteur D'anglais
After a brief teaching stint at Campbell College, Beckett taught English at École Normale Supérieure. Here, he met James Joyce. He assisted Joyce in creating Finnegans Wake. -
Assumption
Samuel Beckett's first short story "Assumption", was published in the Transition magazine in June 1929. -
First Publication
In 1929, Beckett published the essay, "Dante... Bruno. Vico... Joyce." The essay defended Joyce's work. -
Whoroscope
In 1930, Beckett publish a poem called "Whoroscope". He earned a 10 pound prize for it. The poem was about philosopher Descartes. It is praised for its tragicomedy. -
Return to Trinity College
Beckett returned to Trinity College as a lecturer. He spent only four terms and resigned. In 1931, he went on a period of travel across Europe. -
Paris
In 1937, he settled in Paris. During World War 2, Beckett joined an underground resistance group. When members of the group were being arrested by the Gestapo in occupied France, Beckett moved to an unoccupied zone and supported himself as an agricultural laborer up to its liberation. -
Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil
After the stabbing, Beckett attracted Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil, who knew of him from his first stay in Paris. They would become lifelong companions, and she would assist Beckett in his his artistic endeavors -
Stabbing
Beckett was stabbed in the chest in 1938 in Paris. He decided to drop charges against the attacker after finding him pleasant. -
Works
During his time in occupied France, Beckett wrote Watt. From 1946 to 1949, he wrote the prose narratives Molloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnamable. He wrote two plays, Eleutheria and Waiting for Godot -
André the Giant
During the 1950s Beckett drove a young André the Giant to school because he had grown to tall for the school bus. -
Waiting for Godot
In 1953, Waiting for Godot premiered at Théâtre de Babylone to critical acclaim. It ran 400 performances. His partner Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil was vital in the success of Becketts published works. She acted as his agent. -
San Quentin Penitentiary
One of the most famous productions of Waiting for Godot was done in the San Quentin Penitentiary by the San Francisco's Actor's Workshop. "The prisoners understood as well as Vladimir and Estragon that life means waiting, killing time and clinging to the hope that relief may be just around the corner. If not today, then perhaps tomorrow." (imagi-nation) -
Endgame
Endgame was performed at the Royal Court Theater in London. The play is absurdist and centers around four characters, a blind, wheelchair-bound man, his spiteful servant, and his senile parents. The play is set in one room with two windows and covers the relationship between the servant and master. -
Marriage
In 1961, Beckett and Suzanne were married in a secret ceremony. -
Nobel Prize
In 1961, Beckett earned the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation." -
Death
On December 22, 1989, Samuel Beckett passed away in a nursing home. Earlier that year on July 17th, Suzanne passed away. -
Legacy
Samuel Beckett was known for his unique and unconventional writing. He covered the human condition, and focused on it immensely. His plays stripped other components common in theater, and focused on dialogue between characters in odd settings.