22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

This website uses cookies to improve the user experience. By using this website you consent to all
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore
cookies in accordance with our cookie policy.

I understand

Shmuel Agnon – Banquet speech

English
Hebrew

Samuel Agnon’s speech at the Nobel Banquet at the City Hall in Stockholm, December 10, 1966

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 1/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 2/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 3/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

From Les Prix Nobel en 1966, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1967

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1966

To cite this section

MLA style: Shmuel Agnon – Banquet speech. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Thu. 22 Apr 2021.
<https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/25723-shmuel-agnon-banquet-speech-1966/>

Back to top

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966

Shmuel Agnon
Nelly Sachs

Share this

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 4/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

Learn
The Nobel more
Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

Nobel Prizes 2020

Twelve laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020, for achievements that have conferred the
greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from the formation of black holes and genetic scissors to
e orts to combat hunger and develop new auction formats.

See them all presented here.

Explore prizes and laureates

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

Literature ▼

- 1966 +

Explore
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 5/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

Shmuel Agnon
Facts

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 6/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 7/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966

Born: 17 July 1888, Buczacz (now Buchach), Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine)

Died: 17 February 1970, Rehovot, Israel

Residence at the time of the award: Israel

Prize motivation: "for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the
life of the Jewish people."

Language: Hebrew

Prize share: 1/2

To cite this section

MLA style: Shmuel Agnon – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Wed. 21 Apr 2021.
<https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/facts/>

Back to top

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966

Shmuel Agnon
Nelly Sachs

Share this

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 8/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

Shmuel Agnon
Biographical

S
hmuel Yosef Agnon (1888-1970) was born in Buczacz,
Eastern Galicia. Raised in a mixed cultural
atmosphere, in which Yiddish was the language of the
home, and Hebrew the language of the Bible and the
Talmud which he studied formally until the age of nine,
Agnon also acquired a knowledge of German literature from
his mother, and of the teachings of Maimonides and of the
Hassidim from his father. In 1907 he left home and made his
way to Palestine, where, except for an extended stay in
Germany from 1913 to 1924, he has remained to this day.

At an early age, Agnon began writing the stories which form a chronicle of the decline
of Jewry in Galicia. Included among these is his first major publication, Hakhnasat
Kalah (The Bridal Canopy), 1922, which re-creates the golden age of Hassidism, and
his apocalyptic novel, Oreach Nata Lalun (A Guest for the Night), 1939, which vividly
depicts the ruin of Galicia after the First World War. Nearly all of his other writings
are set in his adopted Palestine and deal with the replacement of the early Jewish
settlement of that country by the more organized Zionist movement after the Second
World War. The early pioneer immigrants are portrayed in his epic Temol Shilshom
(Only Yesterday), 1945, considered his greatest work, and also in the nightmarish
stories of Sefer Hamaasim (The Book of Deeds), 1932.

While these and other works such as Pat Shlema (A Whole Loaf), 1933, and Shevuat
Emunim (Two Tales), 1943, are enough to assure his stature as the greatest living
Hebrew writer, Agnon has also occupied himself with commentaries on the Jewish
High Festival, Yamin Noraim (Days of Awe), 1938, on the giving of the Torah, Atem
Reitem (Ye Have Seen), 1959, and on the gathering of Hassidic lore, Sifreihem Shel
Tzadikim (Books of the Tzadikim), 1960-1961.

From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and irst published in the
book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this
document, always state the source as shown above.

Shmuel Yosef Agnon died on February 17, 1970.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 9/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1966

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

To cite this section

MLA style: Shmuel Agnon – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Thu. 22 Apr 2021.
<https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/>

Back to top

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966

Shmuel Agnon
Nelly Sachs

Share this

Learn more

Nobel Prizes 2020

Twelve laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020, for achievements that have conferred the
greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from the formation of black holes and genetic scissors to
e orts to combat hunger and develop new auction formats.

See them all presented here.

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 10/11
22/04/2021 Shmuel Agnon - Biographical

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 Explore

About the Nobel Prize organisation

The Nobel Foundation

Tasked with a mission to manage Alfred Nobel's fortune and has ultimate responsibility for fulfilling
the intentions of Nobel's will.

The prize-awarding institutions

For more than a century, these academic institutions have worked independently to select Nobel
Laureates in each prize category.

Nobel Prize outreach activities

Several outreach organisations and activities have been developed to inspire generations and
disseminate knowledge about the Nobel Prize.

Press Privacy policy For developers Join us

Contact Technical support Media player

FAQ Terms of use

THE NOBEL PRIZE Copyright © Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1966/agnon/biographical/ 11/11