Samuel Beckett was born in a suburb of Dublin on April 13th 1906, went to school in Northern Ireland and then to Trinity College, where he graduated in French, Italian and Philosophy. His Early writing was not successful although a few exceptional friends realised that his talent was original and much ahead of its time. His mentors included James Joyce whom he met in Paris during a year as a visiting lecturer. As a young man he spent time in London and travelled in Germany, but finally settled in Paris where he spent the war as a courier for the Resistance until he had to go into hiding in the Vaucluse mountains, the setting for Waiting for Godot.

It was this play that brought him international fame and helped to make his novels the most influential literary achievement of their time, while the later plays changed the nature of modern drama. After the war Beckett wrote in both English and French, translating himself from one language to the other. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969; his commendation emphasized the compassion in his work that brought the disadvantaged of humanity into prominence as never before. He died in Paris on December 23rd 1989.