George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was a Nobel-Prize-winning Irish playwright, critic and passionate socialist whose influence on Western theater, culture and politics stretched from the 1880s to his death in 1950, at 94 one of the world's most famous men.

Originally earning his way as an influential London music and theater critic, Shaw's greatest gift was for the modern drama. He wrote more than 60 plays, among them Man and Superman, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Major Barbara, Saint Joan, Caesar and Cleopatra, and Pygmalion. With his range from biting contemporary satire to historical allegory, Shaw became the leading comedy dramatist of his generation and one of the most important playwrights in the English language since the 17th century.