Robert Greene (dramatist)

Robert Greene
Woodcut of Greene "suted in deaths livery", from John Dickenson's Greene in conceipt (1598)
Born
probable; Tombland, Norwich
Baptisedprobable; 11 July 1558
St George's Church
Died3 September 1592 (aged 34)
London
OccupationsWriter, dramatist, playwright

Robert Greene (1558–1592) was a popular Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer. He is said to have been born in Norwich. He attended Cambridge where he received a BA in 1580, and an M.A. in 1583 before moving to London, where he arguably became the first professional author in England. He was prolific and published in many genres including romances, plays and autobiography.

Greene's most famous play is Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. He is also known for a posthumous pamphlet attributed to him, Greene's Groats-Worth of Witte, bought with a million of Repentance, widely believed to contain an attack on William Shakespeare.