Shaw, George, 1856-1950

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Type of entity

Person

Authorized form of name

Shaw, George, 1856-1950

Parallel form(s) of name

  • Shaw, George Bernard, 1856-1950

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      Dates of existence

      26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950

      History

      (from Wikipedia entry)

      George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 - 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays. He was also an essayist, novelist and short story writer. Nearly all his writings address prevailing social problems, but have a vein of comedy which makes their stark themes more palatable. Issues which engaged Shaw's attention included education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class privilege.

      He was most angered by what he perceived as the exploitation of the working class. An ardent socialist, Shaw wrote many brochures and speeches for the Fabian Society. He became an accomplished orator in the furtherance of its causes, which included gaining equal rights for men and women, alleviating abuses of the working class, rescinding private ownership of productive land, and promoting healthy lifestyles. For a short time he was active in local politics, serving on the London County Council.

      In 1898, Shaw married Charlotte Payne-Townshend, a fellow Fabian, whom he survived. They settled in Ayot St Lawrence in a house now called Shaw's Corner. Shaw died there, aged 94, from chronic problems exacerbated by injuries he incurred by falling from a ladder.

      He is the only person to have been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature (1925) and an Oscar (1938), for his contributions to literature and for his work on the film Pygmalion (adaptation of his play of the same name), respectively. Shaw wanted to refuse his Nobel Prize outright because he had no desire for public honours, but accepted it at his wife's behest: she considered it a tribute to Ireland. He did reject the monetary award, requesting it be used to finance translation of fellow playwright August Strindberg's works from Swedish to English.

      For more information, see Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw .

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      Related entity

      Welby, Victoria, Lady, 1837-1912 (1837-1912)

      Identifier of related entity

      29543057

      Category of relationship

      associative

      Dates of relationship

      1907-1908

      Description of relationship

      correspondent

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      Authority record identifier

      http://viaf.org/viaf/89019752

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      Status

      Final

      Level of detail

      Partial

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Created 2015-10-29 by Anna St.Onge.

      Language(s)

      • English

      Script(s)

      • Latin

      Maintenance notes