Luigi Pirandello

Born 1867-06-29 · Girgenti, Sicily, Italy [now Agrigento, Sicily, Italy]

Died 1936-12-10

Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer, best known for his many acclaimed stage plays and several successful novels such as The Late Mattia Pascal (1904) and One, No One and One Hundred Thousand (1926). He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre." Pirandello's works include about 40 plays, some of which are written in Sicilian. Pirandello's tragic farces are often seen as forerunners of the Theatre of the Absurd. His first major play, Right You Are (if You Think You Are) (1917), explored the relativity of truth, a lifelong subject for Pirandello. Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) contrasted art and life; it was followed by the tragedy Henry IV (1922). His other plays include Each in His Own Way (1924) and Tonight We Improvise (1930). He established the Teatro d’Arte in Rome and toured the world with his company (1925–27). Nearly all of Pirandello's plays were translated into English by the actor Robert Rietti.