Eugène Ionesco is one of the foundational playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. He is known for his post-war drama, which deals with the struggle to communicate through language, the violence of conformism, anti-totalitarian thought, and anguish in the face of death. Born in Romania, he spent his childhood in France and moved back to Romania as an adolescent. He began to publish poetry and literary criticism in Bucharest while witnessing the rise of the fascist Iron Guard. After moving to France during World War II, he began to write and publish drama in French. His most famous plays include La cantatrice chauve (1950, The Bald Soprano), La leçon (1951, The Lesson), Les Chaises (1952, The Chairs), and Rhinocéros (1959, Rhinoceros).