| Jewish novelist, journalist and teacher, Nobel Peace Prize, 1986 Date of Birth: 30.09.1928 Country: Romania |
Elie Wiesel (1928-) is a Jewish novelist, journalist, and educator who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. Born on September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Romania, Wiesel received a religious education. In 1944, the Jews of his town were deported to various concentration camps, where the majority of them perished. Wiesel survived and initially lived in Paris, where he studied at the Sorbonne from 1948 to 1951, before moving to New York in 1956. He obtained US citizenship in 1963.
In the late 1950s, Wiesel turned to literature, and he also wrote fiction in French. His book "Night" (La Nuit, 1958) recounted his experiences in Auschwitz, highlighting the inhumanity and death he witnessed. In "The Gates of the Forest" (Les Portes de la Forêt, 1966), Wiesel depicted the destruction of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary, exploring the senselessness of these atrocities and the impossibility of religious interpretation in such events. Among his other works are "Dawn" (L'Aube, 1960), "The Accident" (Le Jour, 1961), "Jews of Silence" (Les Juifs du Silence, 1966), "The Beggar of Jerusalem" (Le Mendiant de Jérusalem, 1968), "Hasidic Celebrations" (Célébration Hassidique, 1971), "The Oath" (Le Serment au Kolvillaq, 1973), "Zalman, or the Madness of God" (Zalman ou la folie de Dieu, 1968), "The Fifth Son" (Le Cinquième Fils, 1983), and "Twilight, at a Distance" (La Crépuscule, au Loin, 1987).
Wiesel's novels "The Testament of a Jewish Poet Assassin" (Le Testament d'un Poète Juif Assassiné, 1980) and "Voices of Strangers" (Paroles d'Étrangers, 1982) were honored with the International Literary Award for Peace in 1983. In 1985, Wiesel received the Congressional Gold Medal, and the following year, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Throughout his life, Elie Wiesel used his literary voice to shed light on the atrocities of the Holocaust and advocate for justice and peace.