Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde writer, dramatist, and poet, who wrote in both English and French. His work is known for offering a bleak outlook on human culture and became increasingly minimalist over time.

As a student, assistant, and friend of James Joyce, Beckett is considered one of the last modernists and an inspiration to many later writers, making him one of the first postmodernists. He is also a key writer in the Theatre of the Absurd, a term coined by Martin Esslin, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.

During World War II, Beckett was a member of the French Resistance and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1949. In 1969, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his "writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation."

He was the first person to be elected Saoi of Aosdána in 1984. Beckett passed away in Paris due to respiratory problems.