Claude Simon

Facts

Claude Simon

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Claude Simon
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1985

Born: 10 October 1913, Tananarive (now Antananarivo), Madagascar

Died: 6 July 2005, Paris, France

Residence at the time of the award: France

Prize motivation: “who in his novel combines the poet's and the painter's creativeness with a deepened awareness of time in the depiction of the human condition”

Language: French

Prize share: 1/1

Life

Claude Simon was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar. His father was killed in World War I, and Simon was raised by his mother in Perpignan, France. After studies in Paris and Oxford, Simon took painting lessons and traveled around Europe. Simon’s literary production reflects experiences from his travels and during World War II. He was captured at the Battle of Meuse in 1940 but managed to escape and then became involved in the resistance movement. Simon was one of the foremost interpreters of the modernist current in French literature.

Work

Claude Simon’s debut came in 1946 with the novel Le Tricheur (The Cheat). His big breakthrough had to wait until 1960, with the novel La Route des Flandres (The Road to Flanders), in which he describes his experiences during World War II. Simon represented “le nouveau roman” (the new novel), a literary style that disregards form elements such as linear narrative, action and dialogue. His work is based instead on narrative principles used in film, with zooming in and out and a free relationship to time. Simon’s last published novel was Le Jardin des Plantes (1997) (The Jardin des Plantes).

To cite this section
MLA style: Claude Simon – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Tue. 19 Mar 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1985/simon/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.