Adamov, Arthur

Adamov, Arthur
born Aug. 23, 1908, Kislovodsk, Russia
died March 16, 1970, Paris, France

Russian-born French playwright.

He settled in Paris in 1924, and his first major work, written after suffering a nervous breakdown, was his autobiography, The Confession (1938–43). Influenced by August Strindberg and Franz Kafka, he began writing plays in 1947. Professor Taranne (1953) and Ping-Pong (1955) expressed a view of life's meaninglessness that was characteristic of the Theatre of the Absurd. In Paolo Paoli (1957) and later plays, he abandoned Absurdism for radical political theatre influenced by Bertolt Brecht. He died from a drug overdose, an apparent suicide.

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▪ French author
born , Aug. 23, 1908, Kislovodsk, Russia
died March 16, 1970, Paris, Fr.

      avant-garde writer, a founder and major playwright of the Theatre of the Absurd (Absurd, Theatre of the).

      In 1912 Adamov's wealthy Armenian family left Russia and settled in Freudenstadt, Ger. He was subsequently educated in Geneva, Mainz, and Paris, where, having mastered French, he settled in 1924, associating with Surrealist groups. He edited a periodical, Discontinuité, and wrote poetry. In 1938 he suffered a nervous breakdown, later writing L'Aveu (1938–43; “The Confession”), an autobiography that revealed his tortured conscience, delving into a terrifying sense of alienation and preparing his personal, neurotic stage for some of the most powerful of all Absurdist dramas. He spent almost a year of World War II in the internment camp of Argelès, Fr. A severe depression followed.

      Strongly influenced by the Swedish dramatist August Strindberg—with whose own mental crisis Adamov identified—and by Franz Kafka, he began writing plays in 1947. Believing that God is dead and that life's meaning is unobtainable, Adamov turned to a private, metaphysical interpretation of Communistic ideals. His first play, La Parodie, features a handless clock that looms eerily over characters who are constantly questioning one another about time. The world of the play is a parody of man, whom Adamov saw as helplessly searching for life's meaning, which, although it exists, is tragically inaccessible to him. In L'Invasion, he attempted to depict the human situation more realistically; it impressed André Gide and the director Jean Vilar, and, under Vilar's direction, it opened in Paris in 1950, with his third play, La grande et la petite manoeuvre. The latter reveals the influence of his friend, Antonin Artaud, theoretician of the “theatre of cruelty.”

      Le Professeur Taranne (performed 1953) was about a university professor unable to live up to his public role; though the play is dictated by the absurd logic of a dream, the construction and characterizations are firm and clear. In his best known play, Le Ping-pong (performed 1955), the powerful central image is that of a pinball machine to which the characters surrender themselves in a never-ending, aimless game of chance, perfectly illustrating man's adherence to false objectives and the futility of his busy endeavours. Adamov's later plays (Paolo Paoli, 1957; Le Printemps 71, 1961; La Politique des restes, 1963) embodied radical political statements, though his interest in dramatic experimentation continued. Finally admitting that life was not absurd but merely difficult, he committed suicide. In a preface to Théâtre II (1955), his second volume of plays, Adamov describes his attitudes toward his work and comments on his career.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • ADAMOV (A.) — ADAMOV ARTHUR (1908 1970) Auteur dramatique français d’origine russo arménienne, Arthur Adamov a vécu une enfance entre deux mondes. Né à Kislovotsk (Caucase), il passe ses premières années à Bakou; ses parents possèdent «une bonne partie des… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Adamov — (Arthur Adamian, dit) (1908 1970) dramaturge français d origine russo arménienne: Ping Pong (1955), Paolo Paoli (1958), le Printemps 71 (1961), etc …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Arthur — /ahr theuhr/, n. 1. Chester Alan, 1830 86, 21st president of the U.S. 1881 85. 2. legendary king in ancient Britain: leader of the Knights of the Round Table. 3. a male given name. * * * (as used in expressions) Port Arthur Adamov Arthur Arthur s …   Universalium

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  • Arthur Adamov — Arthur Adamov, de son vrai nom Adamian, est un écrivain et auteur dramatique français d origine russo arménienne, né le 23 août 1908 à Kislovodsk et mort le 15 mars 1970 à Paris des suites d une overdose de barbituriques. Son théâtre, d abord… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arthur Adamov — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Arthur Adamov, de nombre real Arthur Adamian (Kislovodsks, Cáucaso, 23 de agosto de 1908 París, 15 de marzo de 1970) fue dramaturgo francés de origen armenio, uno de los exponentes más destacados del teatro del… …   Wikipedia Español

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  • Arthur Adamov — (23 August 1908 – 15 March 1970) was a playwright, one of the foremost exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd.Adamov (originally Adamian) was born in Kislovodsk in Russia to a wealthy Armenian family, which lost its wealth in 1917. In common with …   Wikipedia

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