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Eugène Ionesco

Romanian-French playwright (1909-1994) · France · Writers · Died at 84

Eugène Ionesco is read about 780 times a day, in 78 languages.

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He built a theatre where language collapses, logic fails, and people speak past each other into the void. The Bald Soprano kicked off the whole absurdist movement - anti-play as manifesto.

WritersWriter / AuthorTheatrePoetryDJMoviesTelevisionLiterature

A life in dates

1994Died28 March 19941973Jerusalem PrizeAward1971Austrian State Prize for European LiteratureAward1966“I am told, in a dream ... you can only get the answer to all your questions through a dream.”In their wordsSpeaking of a dream not fully remembered, in Fragments of a Journal (1966)

1962“It was a lot of fuss about nothing, wasn’t it?”In their wordsExit the King, 1962, Marguerite to Bérenger, the King, as he dies.

1955“Oh words, what crimes are committed in your name!”In their wordsJacques from Jacques or the Submission (1955)

1954“I didn't mean you were stupid. It's just that you're not logical, which isn't the same thing at all.”In their wordsAmédée from Amédée or How to Get Rid of It (1954)

1953“All the plays that have ever been written, from ancient Greece to the present day, have never really been anything but thrillers...”In their wordsVictimes du Devoir [Victims of Duty] (1953)

1951“That's not it. That's not it at all. You always have a tendency to add. But one must be able to subtract too. It's not enough to integrate, you must also disintegrate.”In their wordsThe Professor in The Lesson (1951)

1909Born26 November 1909

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

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In their own words 10

,
Eugène Ionesco
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. I am told, in a dream ... you can only get the answer to all your questions through a dream.

    1966, Speaking of a dream not fully remembered, in Fragments of a Journal (1966), Own words

  2. I have no ideas before I write a play. I have them when I have finished it ... I believe that aritistic creation is spontaneous. It is for me.

    1964, Notes and Counter-Notes (1964), as translated by Donald Watson, p. 33, Own words

  3. It was a lot of fuss about nothing, wasn’t it?

    1962, Exit the King, 1962, Marguerite to Bérenger, the King, as he dies., Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Jerusalem Prize1973
Austrian State Prize for European Literature1971
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
Prince Pierre Award
Commander of the National Order of Merit
Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order
Prix du Brigadier
Officer of the Legion of Honour
Star on Playwrights' Sidewalk

Family

Eugène Ionesco

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About this person

Born Eugen Ionescu in Romania on 26 November 1909, he moved to France and switched languages, writing almost entirely in French. The Bald Soprano arrived as a revolution: techniques and ideas that broke drama open and seeded what became the Theatre of the Absurd. He kept writing plays that leaned into absurdism and surrealism, following the thread Albert Camus had pulled. The Académie française admitted him in 1970; that same year he took the Austrian State Prize for European Literature, then the Jerusalem Prize in 1973. He died 28 March 1994.

Country
France
Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1909 to 1994 · aged 84

In common with Eugène

Marina VladyAlso in The Seven Deadly Sins (1962)Roger VadimAlso in The Seven Deadly Sins (1962)Fanny CottençonAlso in Le Roi des cons (1981)Jan LenicaAlso in Monsieur Tête (1959)Halvar BjörkAlso in Stolarna (1962)Jean-Marie SerreauAlso in Amédée ou comment s'en débarrasser (1968)

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