Usigli, Rodolfo, 1905-1979

Rodolfo Usigli was born in Mexico City in 1905, the son of immigrant parents. Forced to leave school to work after his father's death, Usigli was largely self-educated. In 1935 he received a Rockefeller scholarship to study drama direction and composition at Yale University. Returning to Mexico he taught drama at the university and worked for the Institute of Fine Arts, reviewed plays, translated poetry and drama from both English and French, and wrote his own plays, including his signature piece El Gesticulador (The Impostor). Unable to establish himself as a dramatist and encountering political opposition, Usigli entered the diplomatic corps and served for over two decades in France, Lebanon and Norway. Upon his return to Mexico in 1972, Usigli was honored with Mexico's highest literary award, the National Prize for Literature, and acknowledged as the founder of modern Mexican theater. He died in 1979. The "Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Teatral "Rodolfo Usigli," the most important center dedicated to the study of the dramatic arts in Mexico bears his name.