Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) was an Austrian physician and a writer who vividly captured the gaiety and decadence of pre-World War I Vienna. As a playwright, he was one of the pioneers of psychological realism, using the findings of modern psychiatric investigations to explore naturalistic subject matter. His contributions to the development of modern drama place him alongside such greats as Ibsen and Strindberg.

Schnitzler was born May 15, 1862 to well-to-do parents in the Viennese neighborhood of Leopoldstadt. His father, Johann, was a famous throat specialist who treated the celebrated theatre stars of the day. Under his father's influence, Arthur studied for a career in medicine, and in 1885, received his medical degree from the world-renowned University of Vienna, graduating with a thesis on the hypnotic treatment of neurosis.

At the same time, Schnitzler pursued literary acclaim. A central figure in the "Jung Wein", a circle of young poets, he was continually penning poems, stories, and articles. He was largely unsuccessful until his first play, Anatol (1893), a witty collection of seven one-act plays examining the passionate but frivolous life and loves of a young Viennese man.

Finally able to embrace his literary career, Schnitzler continued writing of the foibles of Viennese society with a fascinating mix of affection and cynicism. Recurring themes include illicit love, hypocrisy, illusion, self-destruction and anti-Semitism. His contemporary Sigmund Freud wrote to him "Your dissection of the cultural conventions of our society, the dwelling of your thought on the polarity of love and death; all this moves me with an uncanny feeling of familiarity."

Not everyone was charmed. In 1901 Schnitzler was tried by court-martial and his commission as a medical officer in the army reserve was taken away for writing Leutnant Gustl, a monologue that brought the Austrian military concept of honor into question. (For a description of the uproar caused by La Ronde see "About The Play"). Other works include The Green Cockatoo (1899), None But the Brave (1901), Fraulein Else (1924) and Rhapsody: A Dream Novel (1925). Banned by the Nazis, his plays never regained their former popularity. However, interest has recently been rekindled: Schnitzler's novel Traumnovelle inspired Stanley Kubrick's 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut and La Ronde inspired David Hare's 1998 play The Blue Room.

Schnitzler died October 21, 1931.