Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972)

Awarded the Prize “for his narrative y, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind.”

Japanese author. Kawabata was born on June 11, 1899 in Osaka Japan. From 1920 to 1924, Kawabata studied at the Tokyo Imperial University, where he received his degree. He was one of the founders of the publication Bungei Jidai, the medium of a new movement in modern Japanese literature. Kawabata made his debut as a writer in 1927. He became a member of the Art Academy of Japan in 1953 and four years later he was appointed Chairman of the P.E.N. Club of Japan. Kawabata committed suicide and died in Zushi, Japan on April 16, 1972.
Major Works:
Izu Dancer (1925); Snow Country (1947); Thousand Cranes (1952); The Sound of the Mountain (1949); The Lake (1955); The Sleeping Beauty (1960); The Old Capital (1962)