author
Rudolf Besier
1878–1942
Best known for The Barretts of Wimpole Street, this Dutch-English dramatist turned literary lives and historical figures into vivid stage stories. He also worked as a translator and adapter, helping bring other writers’ works to the theater.
1 Audiobook
Lady Patricia: A comedy in three acts
by Rudolf Besier
About the author
Born in Blitar, East Java, on 2 July 1878, Rudolf Wilhelm Besier was a Dutch-English playwright, dramatist, and translator. He was educated at Elizabeth College in Guernsey and later at Heidelberg, and he began his working life in journalism before devoting himself more fully to the stage.
Besier wrote a range of plays and also collaborated on dramatizations with writers including H. G. Wells, Hugh Walpole, and May Edginton. His best-known work is The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1930), a play about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning that became a major success on stage and was later adapted for film.
He died in Surrey, England, on 16 June 1942. Today he is remembered chiefly for his gift for shaping literary and biographical material into emotionally direct, audience-friendly drama.