Eugène Ionesco 1912-1994

Version originale de ce texte en français Born to a Romanian father and a French mother in 1912 in Slatina, Romania, Eugène Ionesco lived in France from 1913 to 1925. He later studied French at the University of Bucharest and became a French professor. In 1938, he received a scholarship from the Romanian government and left his country again for France. His first play, La Cantatrice chauve, directed by Nicolas Bataille at the Noctambules in 1950, was a failure before being played continuously since 1957 at the Theatre de la Huchettte with La Leçon. Directors of the "new theater" have presented his new works (Les Chaises by Sylvain Dhomme in 1952; Victimes du devoir by Jacques Mauclair in 1953; Amedée by Jean Marie Serreau in 1954; Rhinocéros by Jean-Louis Barrault at the Theatre of France in 1960; and Le roi se meurt by Mauclair in 1962). In 1970, Ionesco was appointed to the French Academy. He died in Paris on March 28, 1994.   Catherine Masson-Beauclair, Wellesley College. Translation by Cheryl Wong Po Foo and Lori Crawford-Dixon.

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This page was first posted on September 21, 1998 and last updated November 29, 1998. © Marie-Magdeleine Chirol, 1998.
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