Traps Friedrich Durrenmatt About the author By Vasil Syomukha, translator of the story Friedrich Durrenmatt (1921-1997), a Swiss playwright and essayist whose controversial plays are linked to the theatre of the absurd, was born in Konolfingen, near Berne. His father was a Protestant minister. In 1941, Durrenmatt entered the University of Bern, where he studied theology, literature and philosophy. After art studies at the University of Zurich in 1942-43, Dürrenmatt returned to Berne, where he devoted himself entirely to writing. He won the Schiller Prize in 1959 and many other Swiss and international awards later. In 1968-69 he was a co-director of the Basel Theatre and in 1970 he was appointed free-lance artistic adviser at the Zurich Schauspielhaus. From 1968 to 1971, Durrenmatt was a co-editor of Züricher Sonntags-Journal. Although Durrenmatt wrote novellas and stories, some of which like The Judge and His Hangman (1952), The Quarry or Suspicion (1952) and Traps (1956), earned him acclaim in Europe, he is more famous as a playwright. He also gained prominence for his criticism Berthold Brecht's theater theory and practices. Durrenmatt made his international breakthrough with The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1952) and An Angel Comes to Babylon (1953). The Visit (1956), in which money corrupts an impoverished community, is also one of his best-known satirical dramas. The Physicist, considered by many critics Durrenmatt's best play, triumphed all over the world. Its unique style an