| 1906 |
April 13 |
Samuel Barclay Beckett is born near Dublin, Ireland. |
| 1919 |
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He is sent off to the Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh -- the same school Oscar Wilde attended. |
| 1923 |
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He begins his studies at Trinity College, Dublin. |
| 1923 |
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He graduates from Trinity College, Dublin, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. |
| 1928 |
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He moves to Paris. |
| 1929 |
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Beckett published his first work, a critical essay defending James Joyce's writings. |
| 1930 |
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"Whoroscope" wins first place in a competition for a poem about time. |
| 1931 |
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Beckett earns a Master of Arts degree from Trinity College. |
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He publishes Proust, a collection of essays. |
| 1934 |
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He publishes his first novel, More Pricks than Kicks. |
| 1937 |
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He has a brief affair with the art collector Peggy Guggenheim. |
| 1938 |
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He publishes his second novel, Murphy. |
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Beckett is hospitalized after being stabbed in the street by a man who approaches him asking for money. |
| 1940 |
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Unhappy with the German occupation of his adopted homeland, Beckett joins the French Resistance. |
| 1942 |
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Several members of Beckett's underground resistance group are arrested by the Gestapo, and he is forced to flee to the unoccupied zone. |
| 1945 |
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Beckett returns to Paris. |
| 1951 |
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He publishes two more novels -- Molloy and Malone Dies. |
| 1953 |
January 5 |
Waiting for Godot premieres at the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris. The "strange little play in which nothing happens" enjoys a run of 400 performances. |
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He publishes two more novels -- Watt and The Unnamable. |
| 1957 |
January 13 |
Beckett's radio play All That Fall is broadcast by the BBC. |
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April 3 |
Endgame premieres at the Royal Court Theatre in London under the direction of Roger Blin. The play is well received and secures Beckett's position as a master dramatist. |
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November 19 |
A company of actors from the San Francisco Actor's Workshop present Waiting for Godot at the San Quentin penitentiary for an audience of over fourteen hundred convicts. The production is a great success. |
| 1958 |
October 28 |
Krapp's Last Tape premieres at the Royal Court Theatre in London. |
| 1959 |
June 24 |
Embers, a radio play, is broadcast by the BBC. |
| 1961 |
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Beckett publishes How It Is, his last full-length prose work. |
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March 25 |
In a secret civil ceremony, Beckett marries Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil. |
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September 17 |
Happy Days premieres at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York. |
| 1963 |
October 13 |
Cascando, a radio piece for music and voice, is broadcast by the ORTF. |
| 1965 |
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Beckett's film, entitled Film, is shown at the New York Film Festival. |
| 1966 |
July 4 |
Eh Joe, a piece for television, is broadcast by the BBC. |
| 1969 |
December 10 |
Beckett is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He refuses to attend the ceremony. |
| 1973 |
January 16 |
Not I premieres at the Royal Court Theatre in London. |
| 1976 |
May 20 |
That Time and Footfalls premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in London. |
| 1977 |
April 17 |
Ghost Trio and ...but the clouds ..., two plays for television, are broadcast on BBC2. |
| 1979 |
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He publishes Company, a novella. |
| 1981 |
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Ohio Impromptu premieres at Ohio State University. |
| 1982 |
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He publishes another novella, Ill Seen, Ill Said. |
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Catastrophe, written for Vaclav Havel, is performed at the Avignon Festival. |
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December 16 |
Quad is broadcast on BBC2. |
| 1983 |
June 15 |
What Where premieres at the Harold Clurman Theatre in New York. |
| 1984 |
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Beckett is elected Saoi of Aosdána. |
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He publishes his final novella, Worstword Ho. |
| 1989 |
July 17 |
His wife Suzanne dies. |
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December 22 |
Samuel Beckett dies at the age of 83. Although he continues to write until his death, he says, in the end, that each word seems "an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness." |
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Browse Samuel Beckett Quotes |
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Browse Samuel Beckett: Essential Reading List |
