William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and, along with John Millington Synge and Lady Gregory, founded the Abbey Theatre, serving as its chief during its early years. He was awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Literature and later served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1923, announced November 14, 1923. William Butler Yeats, “for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation”. William Butler Yeats: born 1865, Dublin, Ireland. Wiki link Data: the Nobel Foundation (CC0).