Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Dürrenmatt in 1989.
Born 5 January 1921(1921-01-05)
Konolfingen, Switzerland
Died 14 December 1990(1990-12-14) (aged 69)
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Occupation Playwright, novelist
Language German
Nationality Swiss
Notable work(s)

The Physicists

The Visit

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (German pronunciation: [ˈfriːdriç ˈdʏrənˌmat] (5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire. Dürrenmatt was a member of the Gruppe Olten.

Contents

Biography

Dürrenmatt was born in Konolfingen, in the Emmental (canton of Bern), the son of a Protestant pastor. His grandfather, Ulrich Dürrenmatt, was a conservative politician. The family moved to Bern in 1935. Dürrenmatt began studies in philosophy and German language and literature at the University of Zurich in 1941, but moved to the University of Bern after one semester. In 1943, he decided to become an author and dramatist and dropped his academic career. In 1945–46, he wrote his first play It is written. On 11 October 1946, he married the actress Lotti Geissler. She died on 16 January 1983, and Dürrenmatt married again in 1984 to another actress, Charlotte Kerr.

Dürrenmatt also enjoyed painting. Some of his own works and his drawings were exhibited in Neuchâtel in 1976 and 1985, as well as in Zurich in 1978.

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Later life

In 1990, he gave two famous speeches, one in honour of Václav Havel (Die Schweiz, ein Gefängnis? / Switzerland a prison?), and the other in honour of Mikhail Gorbachev (Kants Hoffnung / Kant's Hope). Dürrenmatt often compared the three Abrahamic religions and Marxism, which he also saw as a religion.

Even if there are several parallels between Dürrenmatt and Brecht, Dürrenmatt never took a political position, but represented a pragmatic philosophy of life. In 1969, he traveled in the USA, in 1974 to Israel, and in 1990 to Auschwitz in Poland.

Dürrenmatt died from heart failure[1] on 14 December 1990 in Neuchâtel.

Selected bibliography

Dürrenmatt's stories in film

Adaptations

His story, 'Die Panne' (Traps) was adapted into a Marathi play, Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (Silence! The Court Is in Session) by Indian playwright, Vijay Tendulkar in 1967, and since then been performed in various Indian languages, and made into a film by the same name by Satyadev Dubey.

References

  1. ^ Books and Authors
  2. ^ The Novels of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, London: Pan, 1985
  3. ^ Der Meteor at the Internet Movie Database
  4. ^ Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe at the Internet Movie Database

External links