William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms. Yeats was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and helped co-found the Abbey Theatre, where he served as its chief during its early years. In 1923 he became the first Irishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.