The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966
Awarded on: 1966-10-20
"for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength"
Nelly Sachs
Born: 1891-12-10 in Berlin, Germany
Gender: female
Field: Jewish German-Swedish poet and playwright. Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate
Biography
Nelly Sachs was a German–Swedish poet and playwright. Her experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. Her best-known play is Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels (1950); other works include the poems "Zeichen im Sand" (1962), "Verzauberung" (1970), and the collections of poetry In den Wohnungen des Todes (1947), Flucht und Verwandlung (1959), Fahrt ins Staublose (1961), and Suche nach Lebenden (1971). She was awarded the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.