Elias Canetti (Bulgarian: Елиас Канети; July 25, 1905 – August 14, 1994; pronounced /kəˈnɛti, kɑː-/) was a writer who wrote in German. He was known for his work as a novelist, playwright, memoirist, and nonfiction writer.

He was born in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardic Jewish family. Later in life, he lived in England, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. In 1981, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his writings, which showed a wide perspective, many ideas, and strong artistic skills.

One of his well-known nonfiction books is Crowds and Power.

Early life

He was born in 1905 to businessman Jacques Canetti and Mathilde (née Arditti) in Ruse, a city on the Danube in Bulgaria. He was the eldest of three sons. His ancestors were Sephardic Jews. His paternal ancestors settled in Ruse from Ottoman Adrianople. The original family name was Cañete, named after Cañete, Cuenca, a village in Spain.

In Ruse, Canetti's father and grandfather were successful merchants who ran a business from a building they constructed in 1898. Canetti's mother came from the Arditti family, one of the oldest Sephardic families in Bulgaria. The Ardittis helped establish the Ruse Jewish colony in the late 18th century.

The Arditti family can be traced back to the 14th century, when they worked as doctors and scientists for the Aragonese royal court of Alfonso IV and Peter IV. Before moving to Ruse, they lived in Italy and resided in Livorno in the 17th century.

Canetti lived in Ruse from 1905 to 1911 until his family moved to Manchester, England, where his father joined a business started by his wife's brothers. In 1912, his father died suddenly. His mother then moved with their children first to Lausanne, and later that same year, when Canetti was seven, to Vienna. His mother required him to learn and speak German.

At that time, Canetti already knew Ladino (his native language), Bulgarian, English, and some French. He studied English and French during the year he spent in Britain. Later, his family moved first to Zürich and then to Frankfurt, where Canetti completed high school.

Canetti returned to Vienna in 1924 to study chemistry. However, his main interests during his time in Vienna were philosophy and literature.

Career

He began writing in the literary groups of First Republic Vienna. He supported left-wing political ideas and was present during the July Revolt of 1927. He found himself near the event, was deeply affected by the book burning (a memory he often mentioned in his writings), and left quickly on his bicycle.

He earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Vienna in 1929 but did not work as a chemist.

In Vienna, he published two books: Komödie der Eitelkeit (1934, translated as The Comedy of Vanity) and Die Blendung (1935, translated as Auto-da-Fé, 1935) before fleeing to Great Britain. He wrote about the experiences of Nazi Germany and political instability in his works, especially examining crowd behavior and group thinking in the novel Die Blendung and in the non-fiction book Crowds and Power (1960). He wrote several memoirs, in which he reflected on how his multilingual background and childhood influenced him.

Personal life

In 1934 in Vienna, he married Veza (Venetiana) Taubner-Calderon (1897–1963). She was his muse and helped him with his writing. He remained open to relationships with other women. He had a short relationship with sculptor Anna Mahler, who was the daughter of composer Gustav Mahler.

In 1938, after Germany annexed Austria (known as the Anschluss), the Canettis moved to London. He became close to painter Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, who remained a close companion for many years.

He also had a close relationship with writer Frieda Benedikt (1916–1953), who used the name Anna Sebastian. Canetti had already met her in Vienna in 1936.

He was one of Iris Murdoch’s lovers. Her husband, John Bayley, wrote about him in his memoirs, calling him "the Dichter," "sage," and "the monster of Hampstead." Canetti, who expected women to obey him, later harshly criticized Murdoch in his book Party im Blitz (2003).

After Veza died in 1963, Canetti married Hera Buschor (1933–1988). They had a daughter, Johanna, in 1972. Canetti’s brother, Jacques Canetti, lived in Paris, where he supported a revival of French chanson (a style of music).

Although Canetti wrote in German, he lived in Britain until the 1970s. He became a British citizen in 1952. For his final 20 years, he lived mostly in Zürich.

Awards

The German writer Canetti received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981. He was honored "for writings marked by a wide range of ideas, creativity, and strong writing skills." He is best known for writing three books about his childhood and life in Vienna before the Anschluss: Die Gerettete Zunge (The Tongue Set Free), Die Fackel im Ohr (The Torch in My Ear), and Das Augenspiel (The Play of the Eyes). He also wrote the modernist novel Auto-da-Fé (Die Blendung) and the book Crowds and Power, which studies how people behave in groups during events like protests or religious gatherings.

Death

In the 1970s, Canetti traveled to Zurich more often. He finally moved there and lived for the next 20 years. Canetti died in Zürich in 1994.