Elias Canetti

Elias Canetti (Ruse 25 July, 1905- Zurich, 13 August, 1994) was a Bulgarian-born British-Austrian novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature winner, who wrote in German.

Life

Born in Rustschuk (now Ruse, Bulgaria) to a Jewish family who had long worked in trade, he spent his child years from 1905 to 1911 in Rustschuk, (Bulgaria) until the family moved to England, because of his father's profession. In 1912 his father died and his mother moved with her children to Vienna in the same year. By this time Canetti already spoke Ladino, Bulgarian, English and some French (he studied the latter two in the one year in England). However, being in Vienna from the age of 7 onwards, the main language he used (taught by his mother) was German. In the next 10 years the family moved first from 1916 to 1921 to Zurich and then until 1924 to Germany where Canetti graduated from high school.

Related Topics:
Ruse, Bulgaria - 1905 - 1911 - Bulgaria - England - 1912 - Vienna - Ladino - Bulgarian - English - French - German - 1916 - 1921 - Zurich - 1924 - Germany

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Canetti went back in Vienna in 1924 in order to study chemistry. However his real ambition during his years in Vienna was philosophy and literature. Introduced into the literary circles of first republic-Vienna, he started writing. He gained a degree in chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1929, but never worked as a chemist. In 1938, after the Anschluss of Austria, Canetti moved to London where he settled and stayed until the 1970s and received British citizenship in 1952. For his last 20 years, Canetti predominantly lived in Zurich.

Related Topics:
Vienna - 1924 - Chemistry - University of Vienna - 1929 - 1938 - Anschluss - London - 1970s - 1952 - Zurich

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~