W. S. Gilbert (1836 - 1911)

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas (known as the Savoy operas) produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. The most famous of these are H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. His creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, numerous stories, poems, lyrics and various other comic and serious pieces.