Lionel Abel

Lionel Abel (28 November 1910- 19 April 2001, in Manhattan, New York) was an eminent Jewish Americanplaywright, essayist and theater critic. He was also a translator, and was an authorized translator of Jean-Paul Sartre, who called Abel the most intelligent man in New York City.

His first success was a tragedy, Absalom, staged off-Broadway in 1956 and winner of the Obie award. It was followed by three other works of drama, before he turned to criticism. He is best known for coining the term metatheatre in his book of the same title.

He was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.

Biography

Born in Brooklyn, Abel was the son of Alter Abelson, a rabbi and poet, and of Anna Schwartz Abelson, a writer of short stories. His brother, Raziel Abelson, is a professor emeritus of philosophy at New York University and he has two sisters.

He graduated from high school at the age of fourteen and moved out of his parents' home when he was fifteen, also shortening his name around this time. He attended St. John’s University in New York from 1926 to 1928, and then transferred to the University of North Carolina, which he attended from 1928 to 1929. However, he was expelled for publishing a magazine and never earned a college degree. Afterwards, he moved to Greenwich Village in New York.