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Eugene Ionesco, the father of "theater
of the absurd", was born in Slatina,
Romania on Nov. 26, 1912. In 1938, at
age 26, he settled permanently in Paris
where he received a government grant to
study in France and write a thesis
on "sin and death in French poetry
since Baudelaire." Mr. Ionesco was a
fervent believer in human rights and a
longtime foe of political tyranny.
Ionesco did not write his first play
until 1950. His work conveyed what he
viewed as man's struggle to survive in
a society that he said formed barriers
between human beings. A militant anti-
communist, he had long campaigned from
exile against the authoritarian regime
of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu,
who banned his plays. Many of his plays
have become staples: The Lesson, The
Bald Soprano, The Chairs, Rhinoceros,
some of them being played steadily
since 1955. Mr. Ionesco's work was
often likened to Samuel's Beckett's.
His awards include the Tours Festival
Prize for film, 1959; Prix Italia,
1963; Society of Authors theatre prize,
1966; Grand Prix National for theatre,
1969; Monaco Grand Prix, 1969; Austrian
State Prize for European Literature,
1970; Jerusalem Prize, 1973; and
honorary doctorates from New York
University and the universities of
Louvain (France), Warwick (England),
and Tel Aviv (Israel). He was elected
into the Académie Française in 1970.
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