Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

Facts

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn

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Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1970

Born: 11 December 1918, Kislovodsk, Russia

Died: 3 August 2008, Troitse-Lykovo, Russia

Residence at the time of the award: USSR

Prize motivation: "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature."

Language: Russian

Prize share: 1/1

Work

A literary work is a reflection of its time and its author's origin and situation. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's works grew out of Russia's narrative traditions and reflect Soviet society. His debut, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and several of his later works, focus on life in the Soviet gulag camps. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's books often lack an obvious main character, moving instead between different characters at the center of the plot. This reflects a humanist view of the universality of human experience.

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