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:This article is about the playwright. See Quantum Leap for the lead character of that television series.
Samuel Barclay Beckett ( April 13, 1906 – December 22, 1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist and poet. Beckett's work is stark, fundamentally minimalist, and deeply pessimistic about human nature and the human situation. His later work explores his themes in increasingly cryptic and attenuated style. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1969 and elected Saoi of Aosdána in 1984.
1 Early life and education
The Beckett family (originally Becquet) were of HuguenotIn the 16th and 17th centuries, the name of Huguenots came to apply to members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France. Origin of the Name Originally a term of derision, the origin remains uncertain. It may have derived from the personal name of Besan stock and had moved to Ireland from FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. after the revocation of the Edict of NantesThe Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant French Protestants (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a Catholic nation. The main concern was civil unity, and the Edict separated civil from religious unity, tre in 1685Events February 6 James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. February 18 Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas. June 20. The family home, Cooldrinagh in the DublinThis article is about the city in Ireland. For other uses of the name, see Dublin (disambiguation). Dublin ( Irish: Baile Atha Cliath is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mou suburb of FoxrockFoxrock ( Irish: Carraig an tSionnaigh is a suburb, formerly a separate village, in Dublin, Ireland, on the south of the city. It has the postal code of Dublin 18. It is known to be a middle and upper middle class area with the majority of residents being, was a large house and garden complete with tennis court and had been built in 19031903 has the latest occurring solstices and equinoxes for 400 years, because the Gregorian calendar hasn't had a leap year for seven years or a century leap year since 1600. Events January 1 Edward VII of the United Kingdom is proclaimed Emperor of India by Beckett's father William. The house and garden, together with the surrounding countryside where he often went walking with his father, the nearby Leopardstown Racecourse , Foxrock railway station and Harcourt Street station at the city terminus of the line were all later to feature in his prose and plays.
At the age of five, Beckett started attending a local kindergarten where he first started to learn music and then moved to Earlsford House School in the city centre near Harcourt Street. In 1919Events January January 1 Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 Spartacist uprising Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution with Spartacist League in the forefront January 9 Spartacus, Beckett went to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh ( Oscar Wilde's old school). A natural athlete, he excelled at cricket as a left hand batsman and left arm medium pace bowler. Later on, he was to play for Dublin University and played two first-class games against Northamptonshire. As a result, he became the only Nobel laureate to have an entry in Wisden, the cricket bible.
