Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 production of Sophocles' Antigone, which, though performed without objection by censors, was nevertheless seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's Vichy government. His plays are less experimental than those of his contemporaries, having clearly organized plot and eloquent dialogue. One of France's most prolific writers after World War II, much of Anouilh's work deals with themes of maintaining integrity in a world of moral compromise.
Jean Anouilh's play "Antigone" premieres in Paris
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades.
Historical Significance
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades.
Key People
Events Before
German officer Claus von Stauffenberg is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of…
Negro Baseball League star Josh Gibson suffers a nervous breakdown and is admitted to the hospital for rest and treatmen
Negro Baseball League star Josh Gibson suffers a nervous breakdown and is admitted to the hospital for rest and treatment; he is released in time for preseason training
Adolf Hitler declares "Total War" against the Allies
Adolf Hitler declares "Total War" against the Allies
Soviets announce they have broken the long siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany by opening a narrow land corridor, though
Soviets announce they have broken the long siege of Leningrad by Nazi Germany by opening a narrow land corridor, though the siege is not fully lifted until a year later
German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet troops at Stalingrad
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) during World War II who is best known for his surrender of the German 6th Army…
Events After
German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels
German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels
Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President
Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocau
Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day [1]
WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three
WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three years of Japanese military occupation
Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josep
Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, declaring that liberated nations are to establish democratic governments through free elections
More from the 1940s
D-Day: The Normandy Landings
Allied forces launch the largest amphibious invasion in history on the beaches of Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation.
wars conflicts
World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pled
World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pledging to make no separate peace deals
Mahatma Gandhi begins a march for peace in East Bengal
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign…
birth
Omar al-Bashir is born
Omar al-Bashir is born
Frequently Asked Questions
- What happened on February 4, 1944?
- Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 production of Sophocles' Antigone, which, though performed without objection by censors, was nevertheless seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's Vichy government. His plays are less experimental than those of his contemporaries, having clearly organized plot and eloquent dialogue.
- Why is Jean Anouilh's play "Antigone" premieres in Paris significant?
- Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades.
- Who was involved in Jean Anouilh's play "Antigone" premieres in Paris?
- Key figures include Jean Anouilh (playwright).