George Steiner

French and American literary critic, novelist, literary scholar, cultural theorist

Date of Birth: 23.04.1929

Country:

France

Birth and Early Life
Education
Teaching and Writing Career
Literary Achievements
Awards and Honors
Legacy

Birth and Early Life

Georges Steiner was born in Paris to Austrian Jewish parents. He was one of the few Jewish students in his Parisian lycée to survive the Holocaust. In 1940, his family fled to New York, where he attended French Lycee in Manhattan.

Education

Steiner was a polylinguist, fluent in German, French, and English from childhood. He earned a BA from the University of Chicago, an MA from Harvard, and a DPhil from Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Teaching and Writing Career

From 1952 to 1958, Steiner taught at Williams College in Massachusetts. He also served on the editorial board of "The Economist" from 1952 to 1956. He taught at Princeton, Innsbruck, Cambridge University, and the University of Geneva from 1974 to 1994, where he retired.

Steiner was a regular contributor to "The New Yorker," "The Guardian," and "The Times Literary Supplement." His work focused on the relationship between language, literature, and society, as well as the impact of the Holocaust.

Literary Achievements

Steiner published several books of essays, including "Language and Silence" and "In Bluebeard's Castle." He also wrote poetry, novellas, and a memoir, "Errata." His novel "The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H." explored the horrors of the Holocaust.

Awards and Honors

Steiner was awarded the O. Henry Award for short stories in 1959, the Truman Capote Lifetime Achievement Award in Literature in 1999, the Prince of Asturias Award for Humanities in 2001, the Ludwig Borne Prize in 2003, and the International Alfonso Reyes Prize in 2007. He was also an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the British Academy.

Legacy

Georges Steiner was a brilliant and influential literary critic, scholar, and polymath. His work has been translated into Chinese and most European languages. He left a lasting mark on the fields of comparative literature, language philosophy, and Holocaust studies.