Nadine Gordimer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nadine Gordimer
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Gordimer at the Göteborg Book Fair, 2010
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| Born | 20 November 1923 Springs, South Africa |
| Died | 13 July 2014 (aged 90) Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Period | Apartheid-era South Africa |
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| Spouse |
Gerald Gavron
(m. 1949; div. 1952)Reinhold Cassirer
(m. 1954; |
| Children | 2 |
Nadine Gordimer (born 20 November 1923 – died 13 July 2014) was a famous South African writer. She was also a strong activist who worked for human rights. In 1991, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. This award recognized her "magnificent epic writing" that helped humanity.
Gordimer's stories often explored important issues like fairness and race. She wrote a lot about Apartheid, which was a system of racial separation in South Africa. Because of her strong views, some of her books, like Burger's Daughter and July's People, were even banned. She was very active in the movement against apartheid. She even joined the African National Congress (ANC) when it was against the law. She also helped Nelson Mandela with his famous 1964 speech during his trial. Later in her life, she also worked to help people affected by HIV/AIDS.
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Early Life and Family
Nadine Gordimer was born in a mining town called Springs, Gauteng, near Johannesburg. She was the second daughter in her family. Her father, Isidore Gordimer, was a watchmaker who came from Lithuania. Her mother, Hannah Gordimer, was from London.
Family's Influence
Nadine's parents helped shape her early interest in fairness and equality. Her father had been a refugee, which influenced her understanding of political issues. Her mother was very concerned about the poverty and unfair treatment of black people in South Africa. She even started a crèche (a type of daycare) for black children. Nadine also saw how strict the government was when police searched her family's home.
Nadine went to a Catholic convent school for a while. However, she spent most of her childhood at home because her mother was worried about her health. Being at home a lot, she started writing very early. She published her first stories in 1937 when she was just 15 years old. These first stories were for children. By the age of 16, she had her first story for adults published.
Her Writing Career
Gordimer studied for a year at the University of the Witwatersrand. This was the first time she met people from different racial backgrounds. She also got involved in the cultural movement in Sophiatown. She did not finish her degree but moved to Johannesburg in 1948, where she lived for the rest of her life.
While studying, she kept writing and published stories in local South African magazines. Many of these early stories were collected in her book Face to Face in 1949. In 1951, the famous New Yorker magazine published her story "A Watcher of the Dead." This started a long relationship and helped her reach a much larger audience. Gordimer believed that short stories were very important. She continued to publish them in the New Yorker and other well-known literary magazines. Her first novel, The Lying Days, came out in 1953.
Fighting for Change (Activism)
Nadine Gordimer became more involved in the anti-apartheid movement after her friend was arrested in 1960. The Sharpeville massacre, where many peaceful protesters were killed, also pushed her to act. She became good friends with Nelson Mandela's lawyers during his 1962 trial. She even helped him edit his famous "I Am Prepared to Die" speech. When Mandela was released from prison in 1990, she was one of the first people he wanted to see.
During the 1960s and 1970s, she lived in Johannesburg. She sometimes traveled to teach at universities in the United States. She started to gain international fame for her writing. She won her first big award, the W. H. Smith Commonwealth Literary Award, in 1961. Throughout this time, Gordimer kept speaking out against apartheid through her writing and her actions. She demanded that South Africa change its unfair racial policies.
Facing Censorship
The South African government banned several of her books. The Late Bourgeois World was banned for ten years in 1976. A World of Strangers was banned for twelve years. Her book Burger's Daughter, published in 1979, was banned just one month later. However, the ban was lifted three months later. The government said the book was "too one-sided to be subversive," meaning it wouldn't cause trouble. Gordimer disagreed with this. July's People was also banned during apartheid. Even after apartheid ended, it faced some censorship. In 2001, a school department temporarily removed it from reading lists. They called it "deeply racist," which Gordimer found very insulting. Many writers and political figures protested this decision.
Gordimer joined the African National Congress (ANC) when it was still illegal. She believed the ANC was the best hope for a fair South Africa. She even hid ANC leaders in her home to help them escape arrest. She said that testifying for anti-apartheid activists in the 1986 Delmas Treason Trial was the proudest day of her life. She also regularly took part in anti-apartheid protests. She traveled internationally to speak out against apartheid and unfair treatment.
Her writing gained more and more recognition over the years. The highest honor came on 3 October 1991, when she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel committee said her "magnificent epic writing" had greatly benefited humanity.
Helping After Apartheid
Gordimer's activism was not only about apartheid. She also fought against censorship and supported literature. She refused to let her work be shown by the South African Broadcasting Corporation because it was controlled by the apartheid government. She also helped start the Anti-Censorship Action Group in South Africa. She was a founding member of the Congress of South African Writers. She was also Vice President of International PEN, an organization for writers.
After apartheid ended in the 1990s, Gordimer became active in the HIV/AIDS movement. This was a big health problem in South Africa. In 2004, she organized about 20 famous writers to write short stories for a book called Telling Tales. This book raised money for the Treatment Action Campaign, which works for government funding for HIV/AIDS care. She was critical of the South African government's approach to AIDS at the time.
In 2005, Gordimer gave lectures about foreign policy and discrimination around the world. For example, she joined other Nobel winners in a letter warning the United States not to try and destabilize Cuba's government. She even refused to be considered for the Orange Prize in 1998 because it only recognized women writers. She believed awards should be open to everyone.
Personal Life
In 2006, Gordimer was attacked in her home by robbers. This caused outrage in South Africa. She had chosen not to move into a gated complex, even though some friends advised her to.
Gordimer had a daughter, Oriane, from her first marriage. In 1954, she married Reinhold Cassirer, a respected art dealer. They had a "wonderful marriage" that lasted until his death in 2001. Their son, Hugo, born in 1955, is a filmmaker. Nadine Gordimer worked with him on some documentaries.
Death
Nadine Gordimer passed away peacefully in her sleep on 13 July 2014, at the age of 90.
Awards and Recognition
Nadine Gordimer received many awards for her writing and activism. Some of the most notable include:
- W. H. Smith Commonwealth Literary Award (1961)
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1972)
- Booker Prize (1974)
- Central News Agency Literary Award (multiple times)
- Grand Aigle d'Or (France) (1975)
- Nelly Sachs Prize (Germany) (1985)
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (1988)
- Nobel Prize for Literature (1991)
- International Botev Prize Laureate (1996)
- Commonwealth Writers' Prize (2002)
- Officier of the Legion of Honour (2007)
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (2009)
- Order of the Aztec Eagle
She also received 15 honorary degrees from universities around the world.
Tribute
On 20 November 2015, Google honored her 92nd birthday with a special Google Doodle on their homepage.
See also
- List of female Nobel laureates
- List of Jewish Nobel laureates
