HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...
. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The politically active author's work included
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
dramas, philosophical crime novels, and macabre satire. Dürrenmatt was a member of the Gruppe Olten, a group of left-wing Swiss writers who convened regularly at a restaurant in the city of Olten.


Life

Dürrenmatt was born in Konolfingen, canton of
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, the son of a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
pastor. His grandfather, Ulrich Dürrenmatt, was a conservative politician. The family moved to Bern in 1935. Dürrenmatt began studies in philosophy, German philology, and German literature at the University of Zürich in 1941, but moved to the University of Bern after one semester where he also studied
natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...
. 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. Dürrenmatt traveled in 1969 to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, in 1974 to
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, and in 1990 to Auschwitz in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. In 1975 he played himself in the film '' End of the Game.'' Dürrenmatt also enjoyed painting. Some of his works and his drawings were exhibited in Neuchâtel in 1976 and 1985 and in
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
in 1978. His wife, Lotti Geissler, died on 16 January 1983. Dürrenmatt married another actress, Charlotte Kerr, in 1984. In 1990 he gave two famous speeches, one in honour of
Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...
("Die Schweiz, ein Gefängnis?/Switzerland a Prison?") on discovering that he had been spied on for five decades, along with 800,000 of his left-leaning fellow citizens, by the Swiss secret service; the other in honour of
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
("Kants Hoffnung/ Kant's Hope"). Dürrenmatt often compared the three
Abrahamic religions The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them wit ...
and
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
, which he also saw as a religion. Dürrenmatt died from
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...
on 14 December 1990 in Neuchâtel. Since 2000 his works have been exhibited in the Centre Dürrenmatt, part of the Swiss National Library.


Dramatic works

Like
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
Dürrenmatt explored the dramatic possibilities of epic theatre. Next to Brecht he has been called its "most original theorist". When he was 26 his first play, ''It Is Written'', premiered to great controversy. The story of the play revolves around a battle between a sensation-craving cynic and a religious fanatic who takes scripture literally, all of this taking place while the city they live in is under siege. The play's opening night in April 1947 caused fights and protests in the audience. Between 1948 and 1949 Dürrenmatt wrote several segments and sketches for the anti-Nazi Cabaret Cornichon in Zürich including the short single-act grotesque play ''Der Gerettete'' (''The Rescued'').''RSI Il Salvato, di Friederich Dürrenmatt''
for Rete Due, ''Colpo di scena'', December 2010
His first major success was the play '' Romulus the Great''. Set in the year A.D. 476, the play explores the last days of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, presided over and brought about by its last emperor, Romulus. '' The Visit'' (''Der Besuch der alten Dame'', 1956) is a grotesque fusion of comedy and tragedy about a wealthy woman who offers the people of her hometown a fortune if they will avenge the wrongs done to her. The satirical drama '' The Physicists'' (''Die Physiker'', 1962), which deals with issues concerning science and its responsibility for dramatic and dangerous changes to the world, has also been presented in translation. Radio plays published in English include ''Hercules in the Augean Stables'' (''Herkules und der Stall des Augias'', 1954), ''Incident at Twilight'' (''Abendstunde im Spätherbst'', 1952) and ''The Mission of the Vega'' (''Das Unternehmen der Wega'', 1954). The two late works ''Labyrinth'' and ''Turmbau zu Babel'' are a collection of unfinished ideas, stories and philosophical thoughts.


Selected bibliography

*''Es steht geschrieben'' (1947) *''Der Blinde'' (1947) *'' Romulus the Great: An Ahistorical Historical Comedy in Four Acts'' (''Romulus der Große'', 1950, play) *'' The Judge and His Hangman'' (''Der Richter und sein Henker'', 1950;
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
) *'' Suspicion'' (''Der Verdacht'', 1951, also known as ''The Quarry'', sequel to ''The Judge and his Hangmen'') *" The Tunnel" ("Der Tunnel", 1952; short story) *'' The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi'' (''Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi'', 1952, play) *''An Angel Comes to Babylon'' (''Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon'', 1953, play) *"Theatre Problems" ("Theaterprobleme", 1954, essay) *'' Once a Greek'' (''Grieche sucht Griechin'', 1955, novel) *'' The Visit'' (''Der Besuch der alten Dame'', 1956, play) *'' A Dangerous Game'' (''Die Panne'', 1956, novel / novella, also known as ''Traps'') *'' The Pledge: Requiem for the Detective Novel'' (''Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman'', 1958, novella) *'' The Physicists: A Comedy in Two Acts'' (''Die Physiker'', 1962, play) *''Der Meteor'' (1966) *''King John'' (''König Johann'', 1968, play) *'' Play Strindberg'' (1969, pla) *''Monster Lecture on Justice and Law, with a Helvetian Interlude'' (''Monstervortrag'', 1969, lecture) *''The Coup'' ("Der Sturz", 1971, short story) *''Achterloo'' (1982) *'' The Execution of Justice'' (''Justiz'', 1985) *'' The Assignment'' (''Der Auftrag'', 1986, novella) *"Switzerland—A Prison: A Speech for Vaclav Havel" ("Die Schweiz—ein Gefängnis. Rede auf Vaclav Havel", 1990, speech)


Dürrenmatt's stories in film

*'' It Happened in Broad Daylight'' (1958), with a TV version made in 1997 *'' The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi'' (1961) *'' The Visit'' (1964, ''Der Besuch der alten Dame'') *''Once a Greek'' (1966, ) *''Der Meteor'' (1968) *''Play Strindberg'' (1969), based on Strindberg's ''The Dance of Death'' * '' Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe'' ''(Silence! The Court Is in Session)'' (1971), based on '' A Dangerous Game'' (also known as ''Die Panne'' (''Traps'')) *''Последнее дело комиссара Берлаха'' (''Inspector Bärlach Last Case'', based on ''Der Verdacht'') (1971, in Russian) *'' La più bella serata della mia vita'' (1972, by
Ettore Scola Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film ''A Special Day'' and over ...
, based on ''La Panne'') *''Авария'' (''The Breakdown'', based on ''Die Panne'') (1974, in Russian) *'' End of the Game'' (1976), based on ''The Judge and His Hangman'', and in which Dürrenmatt himself appears in two scenes *'' The Deadly Game'' (1982, Trapp) based on '' A Dangerous Game'' *''Cumartesi Cumartesi'' (1984, Salam, stories in film) *''Физики'' (''The Physicists'') (1988, in Russian) *''Визит дамы'' (''The Visit of the Lady'') (1989, in Russian) *''Szürkület'' (''Twilight'') (1990, by György Fehér) based on the ''Es geschah am hellichten Tag'' movie script *'' Hyènes'' (1992), adaptation of ''The Visit'' by the Senegalese moviemaker Djibril Diop Mambéty *''Jesienny wieczór'' (''An Autumn Evening'', based on ''Abendstunde im Spätherbst'') (1992, in Polish) *'' Justiz'' (1993) *'' The Pledge'' (2001), based on the novel ''Das Versprechen'', which is in turn based on the ''Es geschah am hellichten Tag'' movie script * '' Male Nilluvavarege'' (2015) Kannada movie is based on '' A Dangerous Game''


Adaptations

His novel, '' A Dangerous Game'' (also known as ''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. The play has since then been performed in various Indian languages, and made into a film by the same name by Satyadev Dubey. His play ''The Visit'' has been adapted and Indianised into a play called ''Miss.Meena'' by
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
-based theatre group 'perch'. ''The Visit'' has also been adapted as a musical by Kander and Ebb. His play ''Incident at Twilight'' has been adapted into a play called ''Sann 2025'' by Piyush Mishra. In November 2024, Ian McDiarmid adapted ''A Conversation at Night'' and ''An Incident at Twilight'' under the name ''Different Truths'' for BBC Radio Drama on 3. It featured Ian McDiarmid, Jim Broadbent, Michael Moreland and Ian Dunnett Jnr.


References


Further reading

* Everett M. Ellestad, "Friedrich Dürrenmatt's ''Mausefalle'' (''Mouse Trap'')", '' The German Quarterly'', 43, 4, 770–779, November 1970. * Gerhard P. Knapp, "Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Studien zu seinem Werk", ''Poesie und Wissenschaft'', XXXIII, Lothar Stiehm Verlag, Heidelberg, 1976.
Centre Dürrenmatt Neuchâtel


External links

* *
Friedrich Dürrenmatt home page
sponsored by the University of Chicago Press. Includes a 1969 interview with Dürrenmatt, his story "Smithy" and essay "Automobile and Railroad Nations," and essays on Dürrenmatt.

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Durrenmatt, Friedrich 1921 births 1990 deaths People from Bern-Mittelland District Swiss crime fiction writers Swiss writers in German Swiss dramatists and playwrights Swiss male dramatists and playwrights Swiss male writers Grotesque Swiss male short story writers Swiss short story writers Schiller Memorial Prize winners Georg Büchner Prize winners 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Swiss satirists Swiss satirical dramatists and playwrights