The famous Irish writer Samuel Beckett lived and worked in many places. During a long life he often moved from place to place.
In the following I will try to establish a timeline for his life and work from the beginning in 1906 to the end in 1989.
Samuel Beckett was born in Dublin (Ireland) in 1906. He grew up there and went to school there. In 1928, he left Ireland. He moved to continental Europe. During the rest of his life, he lived in France. He felt more at home in France than he did in his native Ireland.
Obviously, he did not stay in France each and every day. He took some trips back to Ireland. He travelled to other countries in continental Europe, including Germany and Italy. He even crossed the Atlantic Ocean and visited the US. But this happened only once in his life.
Here is some information about the places he visited and when he was there.
1923 He attends Trinity College
1927 He graduates with a degree in French and Italian literature
His parents expect him to start a career as a professor at the university or perhaps as a government official. But this prospect does not appeal to him. He wants to be a writer.
1928 He moves to France. He stays in Paris where he meets the famous Irish writer James Joyce. He works as his assistant for a while.
Lucia, daughter of James Joyce, is interested in Samuel, but he is not interested in her
From France, he travels to Germany where he has relatives: his aunt and uncle live in Kassel. They have a daughter named Peggy Sinclair who is interested in him. He is interested in her.
1929 Assumption, a short story by Samuel, is published
1930 He returns to Ireland
1931 He leaves Ireland. He visits England, France, and Germany.
His parents do not appreciate his relationship with Peggy. Her parents feel the same way. They say it is too close, because she is his cousin.
1932 He meets with Peggy for the last time
1933 Peggy dies in Germany. Samuel's father dies in Ireland. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party come to power in Germany
1936 He travels in Germany for six months. He wants to find out just how bad life in Nazi Germany is. He finds it is worse than he thought. He is strongly opposed to the Nazis
1937 He travels to Ireland. After a short stay in Ireland he travels to Paris.
In December, he attends a Christmas dinner with the family of James Joyce. Here he meets the American art collector Peggy Guggenheim. They begin a relationship.
1938 He is stabbed while walking home alone one evening. He almost dies, but he is saved when he is brought to a hospital.
In the hospital, a French woman named Suzanne comes to visit him. When his relationship with Peggy is over, he begins a relationship with Suzanne who becomes his partner in life. He meets with James Joyce.
Murphy, a novel by Samuel, is published
1939 World War Two begins. Ireland is neutral during the war. As an Irish citizen, Samuel could go to Ireland and avoid the war. But he does not do that. He stays in France.
1940 The French army is defeated by Nazi Germany.
Samuel and Suzanne go into hiding to avoid the Germans.
1941 Samuel and Suzanne join the French resistance
1942 The group for which they are working is betrayed to the Nazis by a collaborator, a French priest named Robert Alesch, who pretends to be opposed to the Nazis.
Samuel and Suzanne are warned. They manage to escape just before Gestapo agents come to their home.
Samuel and Suzanne want to move from the German-occupied zone to the non-occupied zone (Vichy France).
They are lucky. They manage to reach the village named Roussillon in the southern part of France.
For three years (1942–1945) they live and work on a farm in this village.
1945 Samuel and Suzanne return to Paris when the war is over. Samuel travels to Ireland to meet his mother.
1946 He is in France again. He is in Paris with Suzanne
1948 He is working on a play named Waiting for Godot
1950 Samuel's mother dies in Ireland
1951 Molloy, a novel by Samuel, is published.
This is the first part of a trilogy. The second part is Malone Dies. The third part is The Unnamable.
These three novels are written and published in French.
Later he translates them into English and they are published in English.
1953 Waiting for Godot, a play by Samuel, premieres in Paris
1954 Samuel's brother Frank dies in Ireland
1957 Samuel travels to London to meet with BBC translator Barbara Bray (1924-2010).
They start a relationship which will continue until the end of his life in 1989. But Suzanne is still his partner in life
1958 Krapp’s Last Tape, a short story by Samuel, is published
1961 Samuel and Suzanne are married. He says he wants to be sure that she can inherit his estate if he dies before her
1964 Samuel crosses the Atlantic Ocean to visit New York where he is working on a film with the famous actor Buster Keaton.
This is his only visit to the US and his only attempt to work in the movie business.
1966 Come and Go, a short story by Samuel, is published
1969 Samuel is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Samuel and Suzanne are in Tunisia when the announcement is made.
He does not want to attend the ceremony in Stockholm in December. He asks a friend to go there and accept the prize on his behalf.
1970 First Love, a short story written by Samuel in 1946, is published in French. An English translation appears in 1973.
During the final decades of his life, he works in Germany as a director of some of his plays:
** He is at the Schiller Theatre in West Berlin on and off during the years 1967-1978
** He is at Süddeutsche Rundfunk in Stuttgart in West Germany on and off during the years 1965-1985
1989 Suzanne dies in July. Samuel dies in December
1990 As the Story Was Told, a collection of short stories by Samuel, is published
1992 Dream of Fair to Middling Women, Samuel's first novel, written in 1932, is published
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REFERENCES
# 1. Books
Samuel Beckett:
The Last Modernist
By Anthony Cronin
(1996)
Damned to Fame:
The Life of Samuel Beckett
By James Knowlson
(1996)
# 2. Film and video
Silence to Silence
Run time = 77 minutes
(1984)
Samuel Beckett:
As the Story Was Told
Run time = 100 minutes
(1996)
Searching for Sam:
Adrian Dunbar on Samuel Beckett
Run time = 58 minutes
(2019)
# 3. Items available online
Mark Nixon,
“Samuel Beckett in Germany: A Creative Bond across Borders,”
Ireland in Germany
Dream of Fair to Middling Women
*****
Waiting for Godot
A play by Samuel Beckett
Written in French
between October 1948 and January 1949
Premiered on stage in Paris in 1953
*****
Samuel Beckett: A Biography
By Deirdre Bair
(1991 = first edition)
(1998 = second edition)
*****
