William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Awarded the Prize “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”

Irish poet and dramatist. Yeats was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. He was educated in the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. He was interested in folktales as a part of an exploration of national heritage and for the revival of Celtic identity. He reformed Irish Literary Society, and then the National Literary Society in Dublin. In 1897 he founded the Irish Literary Theatre, which was to become the Abbey Theatre. Yeats worked as a director of the theatre to the end of his life, writing several plays for it. In 1932 Yeats founded the Irish Academy of Letters. Yeats died in Menton, France on January 28, 1939.
Major Works:
The Countess Cathleen (1892); The Land of Heart’s Desire (1894); Cathleen ni Houlihan (1902); The King’s Threshold (