Nobel Prize in Literature 1962 (original) (raw)

Photo: Paul Farber. Nobel Foundation archive

John Steinbeck
Nobel Prize in Literature 1962

Born: 27 February 1902, Salinas, CA, USA

Died: 20 December 1968, New York, NY, USA

Residence at the time of the award: USA

Prize motivation: “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception”

Language: English

Prize share: 1/1

Life

John Steinbeck grew up in a small town in a family that a few generations back had emigrated to the United States from Germany, England and Ireland. While studying at Stanford University, he worked during breaks and summers in farm fields that cultivated sugar beets and other crops. He did not earn a college degree but discontinued his studies to move to New York. There he worked as a writer and critic and met his first wife, Carol Henning. He was married two more times and had two sons.

Work

Conditions for migrants and seasonal workers became a recurring theme in Steinbeck’s writings and were particularly evident in Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. The latter relates how unemployment and abuse of power forced farmers to migrate from Oklahoma to California. Sympathy with the downtrodden and the poor characterizes his writing. It is expressed with a compassionate sense of humor and a sharp eye for social and economic injustices. His other outstanding works include East of Eden (1952) and The Pearl (1947).

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 14 laureates' work and discoveries range from quantum tunnelling to promoting democratic rights.

See them all presented here.

Select the category or categories you would like to filter by

Select the category or categories you would like to filter by

Physics

Chemistry

Medicine

Literature

Peace

Economic Sciences

Choose a year you would like to search in