Elias Canetti

On August 14, 1994, Elias Canetti, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981, died at the age of 89. An excerpt from the article:

"Elias Canetti was born on July 25, 1905, in Rustschuck (present-day Rousse) in Bulgaria. Canetti chose to be a German writer because of his appreciation for the culture and history. He was a novelist, essayist, and playwright who drew on history and myths to produce compelling works. Canetti considered it the responsibility of writers to preserve and invent myths to continue this style of conventional creativity.

Elias Canetti was the eldest son in a Jewish merchant family, whose ancestors were Sephardi Jews who had been expelled from Spain in 1492. The original family name was Cañete, named after a village in Spain. Elias spent his childhood years, from 1905 to 1911, in Rustchuk until the family moved to England. In 1912 his father died suddenly, and his mother moved with their children to Vienna in the same year. They lived in Vienna from the time Canetti was aged seven onwards. His mother insisted that he speak German, and taught it to him. By this time Canetti already spoke Ladino (his mother tongue), Bulgarian, English and some French (he studied the latter two in the one year in England). Subsequently the family moved first (from 1916 to 1921) to Zurich and then (until 1924) to Germany, where Canetti graduated from high school. It was during his travels that Canetti wrote his first piece of literature, a verse play titled Junius Brutus.

After high school, Canetti returned to Vienna to study chemistry. However, he truly grew passionate for literature and philosophy. Canetti submerged himself into literary groups, where he first began his writing career. Politically leaning towards the left, he participated in the July Revolt of 1927. Ironically, in 1929, Canetti received a degree in chemistry from the University of Vienna; he would never work as a chemist.

In 1938, with the Nazi rise to power, and the inclusion of Austria into “Greater Germany,” Canetti moved to London. He became closely involved with the painter Marie-Louise Von Motesiczky, who was to remain a close companion for many years to come. His name has also been linked with that of the author Iris Murdoch. In 1935, Canetti produced his breakout novel, Die Blendung (Auto-da-Fé, or The Tower of Babel); however, he would not receive recognition for his literature until the 1960s. His best-known piece, completed in 1960, is Masse und Macht (Crowds and Power). This inspired work imagines a world enveloped by disorder and power, and a study of crowd behavior as it manifests itself in human activities ranging from mob violence to religious congregations."