Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990), Swiss author of essays, avant-garde plays, and existentialist detective novels. He was born in Konolfingen, the son of a clergyman, and educated at the universities of Zürich and Bern. His playwriting was influenced by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Dürrenmatt's early plays, such as Es steht geschrieben (It Is Written, 1947), dealing with the Anabaptists in 16th-century Münster, and Romulus der Grosse (1947; Romulus the Great,1964), about the fall of Rome, distort historical facts in comic, ironic, and sometimes grotesque ways. In Romulus der Grosse, for example, Emperor Romulus is portrayed as a man who cares more about poultry farming than about ruling the Roman empire. Dürrenmatt's best-known plays, Der Besuch der alten Dame (1956; The Visit,1958) and Die Physiker (1962; The Physicists,1963), deal with justice, guilt, and revenge and the helplessness and corruptibility of the individual in mass society, especially when confronted with the forces of finance and technology. Der Besuch der alten Dame was made into an opera in 1971 by Austrian composer Gottfried von Einem. Dürrenmatt's later dramas include Porträt eines Planeten (1970; Portrait of a Planet,1973) and Achterloo (1983), a comedy. His popular detective fiction includes Der Richter und sein Henker (1952; The Judge and His Hangman,1955), Der Verdacht (1953; The Quarry,1962), and Das Versprechen (1958; The Pledge,1959).