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S. Y. Agnon

Hebrew-language author and joint recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Jerusalem, Israel

Unknown photographer / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain Mark 1.0Source

Biography

Agnon was born in 1888 in Buczacz, Eastern Galicia, then part of Austria-Hungary. He settled in Ottoman Palestine in 1908, became a central figure in modern Hebrew literature, and shared the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature with Nelly Sachs. He died in Jerusalem on 17 February 1970. Hebrew-language author and joint recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature. In Jewish World Records, S. Y. Agnon is connected to the record “First Hebrew-Language Writer to Win the Nobel Prize in Literature,” based on the stored achievement of Nobel Prize in Literature, 1966. Agnon became the first Hebrew-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature when he shared the 1966 award with Nelly Sachs. Nobel's own presentation speech describes his decisive shift from Yiddish to Hebrew, and independent literary review identifies him as the only Hebrew writer to have won the prize.

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Records held by S. Y. Agnon

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Awards · Nobel PrizeFirst

First Hebrew-Language Writer to Win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Record holder

S. Y. Agnon

Record value

Nobel Prize in Literature, 1966

Shmuel Yosef Agnon became the first Hebrew-language writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, receiving the prize for 1966 on 10 December 1966. The award was given jointly to Agnon and the German-language poet Nelly Sachs. The official citation for Agnon commended him for his 'profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people'. Official records from the award ceremony speech acknowledge Agnon's progression from writing in Yiddish to establishing Hebrew as his principal literary language.

Country represented: Israel
Achievement location: Israel
Achievement date: 10 December 1966

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