Ugo Betti was an Italian judge, better known as an author, who is considered by many the greatest Italian playwright next to Pirandello.
Betti studied law in Parma at the time when World War I broke out, and he volunteered as a soldier. After the war he finished his studies and became a judge. Writing in his spare time, he published his first collections of poems in 1922. These, titled Il re pensieroso, were written while he was in German captivity from 1917 to 18.