Dürrenmatt, Friedrich (frē`drĭkh dür`ənmät), 1921–90, Swiss playwright and novelist. Dürrenmatt's writings depict a world both comic and grotesque. As a young German-speaking playwright in Switzerland, he was witness to the rise of fascism in neighboring countries but insulated from its direct impact. His plays include the tragic farce Der Besuch der alten Dame (1956, tr. The Visit, 1958), Romulus der Grosse (1949; adapted by Gore Vidal Vidal, Gore, 1925–, American writer, b. West Point, N.Y. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where a formative influence was his witty and scholarly grandfather, Senator Thomas Gore of Oklahoma.
..... Click the link for more information. as Romulus, 1962), and the comedy Die Physiker (1962, tr. 1964). His sense of irony is also evident in his novels, which include the detective mystery Der Richter und sein Henker (1952, tr. The Judge and His Hangman, 1954). A volume of his stories, Der Sturz [the collapse] appeared in 1971.

Bibliography

See studies by M. B. Peppard (1969) and A. Arnold (1969, tr. 1972).

Dürrenmatt, Friedrich

(born Jan. 5, 1921, Konolfingen, near Bern, Switz.—died Dec. 14, 1990, Neuchâtel) Swiss playwright. His plays, showing the influence of Bertolt Brecht as well as the Theatre of the Absurd, were central to the post-1945 revival of the German theatre. In his first three plays, All as It Is Written (1947), The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1952), and An Angel Comes to Babylon (1953), he took comic liberties with historical facts to present parables about modern life. His play The Visit (1956) and the modern morality play The Physicists (1962) earned him international acclaim. After 1970 he wrote adaptations, detective novels, radio plays, and essays. His works have been translated into more than 50 languages.