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Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Life Time
5 January 1921 - 14 December 1990
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Friedrich Durrenmatt, Swiss artist, novelist, playwright, was born on January 5, 1921 in Konolfingen near Bern. There he spent his childhood, until in 1935 the family moved to the capital for financial reasons. Durrenmatt often changed schools, the last was the Humboldtianum, where he passed the final exams in 1941. After graduation, he studied philosophy, painting and natural sciences at Zurich and then at the Universities of Bern until 1943, when he decided to devote his life to writing.
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Friedrich Durrenmatt, Swiss artist, novelist, playwright, was born on January 5, 1921 in Konolfingen near Bern. There he spent his childhood, until in 1935 the family moved to the capital for financial reasons. Durrenmatt often changed schools, the last was the Humboldtianum, where he passed the final exams in 1941. After graduation, he studied philosophy, painting and natural sciences at Zurich and then at the Universities of Bern until 1943, when he decided to devote his life to writing.
His first play, For It Is Said, published in 1945, was staged two years later. Despite the release of the criminal novel The Judge and His Executioner, the career of a freelance writer did not bring the desired income. Financial situation improved in 1952, when his plays began to order radio stations for radio productions, as well as when a major publisher signed him a permanent contract.
Worldwide success came to Durrenmatt after the release of the comedy The Old Lady's Visit in 1956. Then his play Physics became the most successful theater production of 1962/63 and 1982/83. For his work, the writer was awarded numerous literary awards, including the Buber-Rosenzweig medal.
Friedrich Durrenmatt also tried himself as a playwright. So, he put on the stages of Zurich his plays “Portrait of the planet” and Titus Andronicus, the scandalous work “Meteor”.
Since childhood, fond of painting, the writer drew illustrations for his works and sketches of costumes for plays. Exhibitions of his works were held in Neuenburg and Zurich.
Durrenmatt was married twice. His companions were actresses Lottie Geisler and Charlotte Kerr. The latter, after the death of her husband on December 14, 1990, wrote a book of memoirs about their joint life “The Woman in the Red Coat”.