Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen (b. 20 March 1828, d. 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright whose dramatic works are considered to have inspired the modernist theater movement. He dealt with then-touchy social issues such as political corruption and sexually-transmitted diseases. Perhaps his best known work is A Doll's House (1879) which is considered one of the earliest examples of feminism in written theater. Another influential work, Hedda Gabler (1890) featured an unhappily-married protagonist who steals a drunken writer's manuscript and provides the weapon by which he commits suicide (current advertising on the New Times radio station WQXR describes this character in glowing, positive terms).