Shakespeare, Our Contemporary

Author Bio: Jan Kott

Jan Kott, (1914–2001) was a Polish American theater critic and an expert on Shakespeare whose theories influenced some of the most innovative of modern theater directors. Born in Warsaw, he studied at the universities of Warsaw, Paris, and Lodz. Kott returned to Poland shortly before World War II and was drafted into the Polish army. Later he took part in the underground resistance against the Nazi occupation. After teaching Polish literary history at the University of Warsaw and being a visiting professor at Yale, Kott lost his Warsaw post on political grounds. He was granted asylum in the United States in 1969, by which time he had become known in Europe for his writings about Shakespeare. He taught courses in drama, English, and literature at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1969 to 1983, when he retired.