Irish Independent: Beckett’s Wicklow roots celebrated in unique production of ‘Godot’ in a secret mountain location
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- #headline
Figure timeline
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. Written in both English and French, his literary and theatrical works feature bleak, impersonal, and tragicomic episodes of life, coupled with black comedy and literary nonsense. As a key proponent of Irish literature, he is best known for his tragicomedy play Waiting for Godot (1953), and is widely regarded as one of the most inf…
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entertainment · Irish writer (1906–1989) · writer · linguist · film director · screenwriter · cricketer · poet · novelist · playwright · translator · teacher · also Samuel Beckett, Andrew Belis, Sam Beckett, Sa-miao-erh Pei-kʻo-tʻe, Samuel Beḳeṭ, Beckett
Born 13 April 1906 · Died 22 December 1989 · Q37327
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I realised that Joyce had gone as far as one could in the direction of knowing more, [being] in control of one's material. He was always adding to it; you only have to look at his proofs to see that. I realised that my own way was in impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, in subtracting rather than in adding.
- Quote
She has a great feeling for the work and is very sensitive and doesn
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2026· 8 entries
ARLnow: Celtic Festival returning to Samuel Beckett’s in Shirlington this weekend
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- #headline
“I realised that Joyce had gone as far as one could in the direction of knowing more, [being] in control of one's material. He was always adding to it; you only have to look at his proofs to see that. I realised that my own way was in impoverishment, in lack of knowledge and in taking away, in subtracting rather than in adding.”
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- #quote
- #corroborated
“She has a great feeling for the work and is very sensitive and doesn”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.theguardian.com
- #corroborated
The Guardian: ‘Soon I’ll really start to puke’: Samuel Beckett’s travels around Nazi Germany
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The Guardian: ‘Their Strength Through Joy conversation is killing me’: Samuel Beckett’s German diaries
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The Guardian: ‘It’s a national reclamation’: the 12-year festival bringing Samuel Beckett back to Ireland
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Mint: Samuel Beckett's enduring quote on tears and laughter reveals timeless truth about human emotion
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2024· 1 entry
The Irish Times: Walking in Samuel Beckett’s footsteps: In some mysterious way, the landscape captures the soul of the artist
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2022· 3 entries
IrishCentral: Gabriel Byrne and Aidan Gillen sign on for Samuel Beckett biopic
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Author Salman Rushdie referenced Beckett's example when talking about his reasons for not interviewing his attacker
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
- #corroborated
James Marsh directed a biopic of Beckett written by Neil Forsyth and entitled Dance First, with Gabriel Byrne and Fionn O'Shea playing Beckett at different stages of his life
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
- #corroborated
2019· 1 entry
The Guardian: Samuel Beckett rejected as unsuitable for the Nobel prize in 1968
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2018· 1 entry
Snopes rated the claim “Samuel Beckett used to drive a teenaged André the Giant to school when they lived in a small French village.” Mixture.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
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2016· 1 entry
The New Yorker: When Samuel Beckett Tried to Capture the Power of the Movies
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2015· 1 entry
Hyperallergic: Dread States: Samuel Beckett's Poems
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2014· 1 entry
Wall Street Journal: The Self-Loathing of Samuel Beckett
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2011· 1 entry
Is held at Enniskillen, Northern Ireland where Beckett spent his formative years studying at Portora Royal School
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- #wikipedia
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2010· 1 entry
Newsweek: Samuel Beckett Is 100. Why You Should Care
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2004· 1 entry
Granted access to confirmed trace samples of his DNA to conduct molecular genealogical studies to facilitate precise lineage determination
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- #wikipedia
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2003· 1 entry
The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust was formed to support the showcasing of new innovative theatre at the Barbican Centre in the City of London
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- #wikipedia
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1998· 1 entry
It was voted as "the most significant English-language play of the 20th century
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- #wikipedia
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1994· 1 entry
“Grove Press, 1994, ISBN 0-802-15037-3”
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1989· 31 entries
Died 1989-12-22.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
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“Wszyscy rodzimy się szaleni. Niektórzy już tacy pozostają.”
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- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:pl
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“A decir verdad Dios no parece necesitar razones para hacer lo que hace y para omitir lo que omite, al igual que sus criaturas.”
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And was buried at the Cimetière du Montparnasse
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“(Original franz.: "Nous naissons tous fous. Quel-ques-uns le demeurent." - ibidem p. 170)”
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“No existe pasión más poderosa que la pasión de la pereza.”
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“Los moralistas son personas que se rascan allí donde a otros les pica.”
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“Non c'è niente di più comico dell'infelicità. (da Finale di partita)”
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“En el principio era el retruécano.”
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“Le donne sono straordinarie, con la loro mania di far dormire gli altri nel modo in cui loro gli fanno il letto.”
- #wikiquote
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During which his works tended to become shorter and his style more minimalist
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- #wikipedia
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“Empleo las palabras que me has enseñado. Si ya no significan nada enséñame otras o deja que me calle.”
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“Jeden z łotrów został zbawiony. Przyzwoity procent.”
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- #saying
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- #corroborated
“The only sin is the sin of being born.”
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“Oto właśnie cały człowiek, winę nogi zwala na but.”
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“(…) w tym miejscu i w danym momencie ludzkość cała to my, czy nam się podoba, czy nie.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:pl
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“If by Godot I had meant God I would have said God, and not Godot.”
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- #saying
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“Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness. (ang.)”
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“For it does not beat, not my heart, I’d have to refer you to hydraulics for the squelch that old pump makes. (ang.)”
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- #undated
- #lang:pl
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“Opis: odpowiedź na zdanie „Czytam pana dzieła przez całe życie.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:pl
- #corroborated
“Ci-gît qui y échappa tant. Qu’il n’en échappe que maintenant. (fr.)”
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- #saying
- #undated
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- #corroborated
“z każdą inaczej i tak samoz każdą brak miłości jest innyz każdą brak miłości jest ten sam”
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“Opis: o Czekając na Godota Samuela Becketta.”
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“Spend the years of learning squandering Courage for the years of wandering Through a world politely turning From the loutishness of learning.”
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“L'uomo di buona memoria nulla ricorda, perché nulla dimentica. (dal Proust)”
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“„Immer versucht. Immer gescheitert. Egal. Wieder versuchen. Wieder scheitern. Besser scheitern.“ - Samuel Beckett: Worstward Ho, in: Worstward Ho / Aufs Schlimmste zu. Aus dem Englischen von Erika Tophoven-Schöningh. Suhrkamp Verlag Frankfurt/M., 1989. ISBN 10: 351840198XISBN 13: 9783518401989”
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- #lang:de
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“El arte siempre ha sido así: interrogación pura, pregunta retórica sin retórica, como quiera que haya sido considerado por la “realidad social.”
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“Al giorno d'oggi andare in giro è un suicidio. Ma stare a casa, [...] che cos'è stare a casa? Una dissoluzione a fuoco lento. (da Tutti quelli che cadono, in Teatro)”
- #wikiquote
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“Nuestro tiempo es tan excitante que a las personas solo puede chocarnos el aburrimiento.”
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“Comparable to "The tragic figure represents the expiation of original sin, of the original and eternal sin of him and all his 'soci malorum,' the sin of having been born. 'Pues el delito mayor / Del hombre es haber nacido.'" from his essay Proust, quoting Pedro Calderón de la Barca's La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream).”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:en
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“Tutto vecchio. Nient'altro mai. Sempre tentato. Sempre fallito. Non importa. Tentare di nuovo. Fallire di nuovo. Fallire meglio.”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #undated
- #lang:it
- #corroborated
1985· 1 entry
Awarded Saoi (1985).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1984· 1 entry
Awarded Obie Award (1984).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1983· 2 entries
“(Original: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Written in 1983, collected in NOWHOW ON, Release Date January 1, 1984)”
- #wikiquote
- #saying
- #lang:de
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The Samuel Beckett Award was established for writers who, in the opinion of a committee of critics, producers and publishers, showed innovation and excellence in writing for the performing arts
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
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1981· 1 entry
“Wir werden alle verrückt geboren. Einige bleiben es." - Warten auf Godot. Zweiter Akt. Estragon. In: „Dramatische Dichtungen in drei Sprachen.“ Deutsch von Elmar Tophoven. Ausgabe in einem Band. Suhrkamp 1981, S. 171”
- #wikiquote
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- #lang:de
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1974· 1 entry
And continued until 1989, the year of the playwright's death
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1969· 4 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature — for his writing, which - in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation.
- #nobel
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- #honour
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Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1969).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
“Samuel Beckett Talks About Beckett", Vogue Magazine, 1969”
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The avant-garde filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim shot an experimental short film portrait about Beckett, which he named after the writer
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- #wikipedia
- #event
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1968· 1 entry
Awarded Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1968).
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- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1964· 1 entry
Awarded Obie Award (1964).
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- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1962· 1 entry
Awarded Obie Award (1962).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1961· 6 entries
Awarded Prix Formentor (1961).
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- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
Shared the inaugural Prix International with Jorge Luis Borges
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- #wikipedia
- #event
- #corroborated
International Publishers' Formentor Prize (shared with Jorge Luis Borges)
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- #wikipedia
- #event
- #corroborated
“Tom F. Driver, "Beckett by the Madeleine" (1961), Columbia University Forum 4 (Summer 1961): 21-25; it later appeared in Stanley A. Clayes, ed., Drama and Discussion (1967), pp. 604-7, as quoted in "Rick On Theater" 25 January 2018.”
- #wikiquote
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Beckett received the International Publishers' Formentor Prize in recognition of his work, which he shared that year with Jorge Luis Borges
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- #wikipedia
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Married Suzanne in a secret civil ceremony in England (its secrecy due to reasons relating to French inheritance law)
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- #corroborated
1960· 1 entry
Awarded Obie Award (1960).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1959· 3 entries
Awarded honorary doctorate of Trinity College, Dublin (1959).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
“Grove Press, 1959, ISBN 0-394-17216-7”
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- #lang:en
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“Die Sonne schien, da sie keine Wahl hatte, auf nichts Neues. - Murphy. „Vom Verfasser autorisierte Übertragung“ aus dem Englischen. rororo Hamburg 1959 ff., S. 5. Erster Satz des Romans.”
- #wikiquote
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- #lang:de
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1958· 1 entry
Awarded Obie Award (1958).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
- #corroborated
1957· 2 entries
“("The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new." - Murphy. Grove Press New York, 1957)”
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Had his first commission from the BBC Third Programme for a radio play, All That Fall
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- #wikipedia
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1955· 1 entry
To mainly negative reviews, but the tide turned with positive reactions from Harold Hobson in The Sunday Times and, later, Kenneth Tynan
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- #wikipedia
- #event
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1954· 1 entry
“[Descrivendo la sua decisione di abbandonare la madrelingua inglese, per scrivere in francese] Potete includermi nella lugubre categoria di quelli che, se dovessero agire nella più piena consapevolezza di quello che stanno facendo non agirebbero mai. (da una lettera del 1954 a Hans Naumann)”
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1953· 1 entry
Near a hamlet about 60 kilometres (40 mi) northeast of Paris and built a cottage for himself with the help of some locals
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1952· 1 entry
And premièred in 1953 in Paris; an English translation was performed two years later
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1946· 2 entries
Jean-Paul Sartre's magazine Les Temps modernes published the first part of Beckett's short story "Suite" (later to be called "La Fin", or "The End"), not realising that Beckett had only submitted the first half of the st
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Where he worked as a stores manager at the Irish Red Cross Hospital based in Saint-Lô
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1945· 1 entry
Beckett returned to Dublin for a brief visit
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1941· 1 entry
And completed it in 1945, but it was not published until 1953; however, an extract had appeared in the Dublin literary periodical Envoy
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- #wikipedia
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1940· 1 entry
Beckett joined the French Resistance, working as a courier for the Réseau Gloria network
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- #wikipedia
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1939· 1 entry
Preferring, in his own words, "France at war to Ireland at peace"
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1937· 1 entry
Oversaw the publication of Murphy (1938), which he translated into French the following year
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1936· 2 entries
And Beckett departed for extensive travel around Germany, during which time he filled several notebooks with lists of noteworthy artwork that he had seen and noted his distaste for the Nazi savagery that was overtaking t
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A friend had suggested he look up the works of Arnold Geulincx, which Beckett did and he took many notes
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1935· 1 entry
– the year that he successfully published a book of his poetry, Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates – Beckett worked on his novel Murphy
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1934· 2 entries
(48 Paultons Square, Chelsea, London) received an English Heritage Blue Plaque
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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“Gnome" in Dublin Magazine Vol. 9 (1934), p. 8”
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1933· 1 entry
Beckett applied for the position of assistant curator at London's National Gallery
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1932· 2 entries
Which influenced many of his later works, but it was not published until after his death
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Wrote his first novel, Dream of Fair to Middling Women, but after many rejections from publishers decided to abandon it (it was eventually published in 1992)
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1931· 1 entry
Published Proust, his critical study of French author Marcel Proust
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1930· 2 entries
Took up a role as a lecturer in Dublin
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Beckett returned to Trinity College as a lecturer
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1929· 3 entries
“The Letters of Samuel Beckett 1929–1940 (2009), p. 362”
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“The Letters of Samuel Becket 1929–1940 (2009), p. 209”
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Beckett published his first work, a critical essay titled "Dante
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1927· 1 entry
Studied at Trinity College, Dublin, bachelor's degree (1923–1927).
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- #wikidata
- #education
- #corroborated
1926· 1 entry
Awarded Scholar of Trinity College, Dublin (1926).
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- #award
- #achievement
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1923· 1 entry
And entered Trinity College Dublin, where he studied modern literature and Romance languages, and received his bachelor's degree in 1927
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- #wikipedia
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1906· 1 entry
Born 1906-04-13.
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- #wikidata
- #birth
- #corroborated