12. George Bernard Shaw used his will to request the creation of a new alphabet
George Bernard Shaw earned the distinction of being to date the only writer to be awarded both the Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Academy Award, for the screenplay for Pygmalion in 1938 (later adapted as the musical play and film My Fair Lady). He wrote more than sixty plays in his long career, as well as dissertations opposing organized religion, critiques of musical works, essays on economics and in opposition to the First World War; worked as a theater critic, and was a noted political commentator. Clearly he was both comfortable with the English language and was a master of its use. Nonetheless, he attempted to replace the tool he had used to build his fortune in the writing of his will.
Shaw spent more than two decades of his long life in the study of the English alphabet and phonetics, including reforming English spellings. In his will he provided for the creation of the Shaw Alphabet, under the supervision of Isaac James Pitman. Shaw stipulated that the new alphabet contain a minimum of 40 letters or characters, each phonetically corresponding to pronunciation, and be completely separate from the Latin alphabet. His will was contested by heirs and funding for the work was reduced as a result, but the alphabet, called the Shavian Alphabet, was completed and is still being modified and used. Several classic works of literature have been published using the Shavian Alphabet, including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Shaw’s own Androcles and the Lion.
