Ruth Prawer Jhabvala facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ruth Prawer Jhabvala CBE
Jhabvala in 1987
Born	Ruth Prawer (1927-05-07)7 May 1927 Cologne, Weimar Republic
Died	3 April 2013(2013-04-03) (aged 85) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist screenwriter
Citizenship	United Kingdom (1948–2013) United States (1986–2013)
Alma mater	Queen Mary University of London
Period	1955–2013
Notable awards	Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1986 A Room with a View 1992 Howards End BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1983 Heat and Dust Booker Prize 1975 Heat and Dust MacArthur Fellowship 1984 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1986 A Room with a View
Spouse	Cyrus Jhabvala ​ (m. 1951)​
Children	3, including Renana
Relatives	Siegbert Salomon Prawer (brother)

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (born Prawer; 7 May 1927 – 3 April 2013) was a talented writer and screenwriter. She was born in Germany and later became a citizen of both the United Kingdom and the United States.

She is most famous for working with film director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant. Together, they created many popular movies. Ruth Jhabvala is the only person ever to win both a Booker Prize for her novels and an Oscar for her screenplays.

In 1951, she married an Indian architect named Cyrus Jhabvala. She then moved to New Delhi, India. Her experiences there inspired many of her early books and stories. She wrote 12 novels, 23 screenplays (movie scripts), and eight collections of short stories.

Early Life and Education

Ruth Prawer was born in Cologne, Germany, on May 7, 1927. Her parents, Marcus and Eleanora Prawer, were Jewish. Her father was a lawyer.

When Ruth was a child, the Nazi regime in Germany was very dangerous for Jewish people. She saw violence against Jews during an event called Kristallnacht in 1938. In 1939, her family was among the last groups of refugees to escape Germany and move to Britain.

During World War II, Ruth lived in Hendon, London. She experienced the Blitz, which was when German planes bombed London. During this time, she started speaking English instead of German. She found comfort in books like those by Charles Dickens and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. She often read Gone with the Wind while hiding in air raid shelters.

In 1948, she became a British citizen. She went to Hendon County School and then Queen Mary College. In 1951, she earned a master's degree in English literature.

Writing Career

Years in India

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala lived in India for 24 years, starting in 1951. Her first novel, To Whom She Will, was published in 1955. She wrote several other novels about life in India, including Esmond in India (1957) and The Householder (1960).

Her novel The Householder was made into a movie in 1963. This was the first time she worked with Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. During her time in India, she also wrote screenplays for their films, such as The Guru (1969) and Autobiography of a Princess (1975).

In 1975, she won the famous Booker Prize for her novel Heat and Dust. This book was also later made into a movie.

Ruth Jhabvala sometimes found life in India challenging. She wrote that she felt like a "Central European with an English education." Her early books about India often explored themes of love and arranged marriages. They also showed the social customs and changes happening in India after it gained independence.

Life in the United States

In 1975, Ruth Jhabvala moved to New York City, where she lived until her death. She became a citizen of the United States in 1986.

Many of her later books, like In Search of Love and Beauty (1983) and Three Continents (1987), focused on the lives of immigrants. These stories often featured characters from Europe who had experienced World War II. Sometimes, her characters would travel to India looking for spiritual meaning, but they would often find themselves facing the material side of life instead.

In 1984, she received a MacArthur Fellowship. This is a special award given to talented people in various fields. In 2005, she published My Nine Lives: Chapters of a Possible Past, which was a very personal story with illustrations by her husband.

Merchant Ivory Productions

Ruth Jhabvala's partnership with James Ivory and Ismail Merchant began in 1963. They asked her to write the screenplay for their first movie, The Householder, which was based on her own novel. This movie was a success and started a long collaboration that led to over 20 films.

Their next film, Shakespeare Wallah (1965), was also highly praised. They continued to make many movies together, including The Europeans (1979) and The Bostonians (1984).

In 1983, the movie Heat and Dust, based on her novel, won her a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

She won her first Academy Award (Oscar) for her screenplay for A Room with a View in 1986. Six years later, she won a second Oscar for Howards End. She was nominated for a third Oscar for The Remains of the Day.

Ruth Jhabvala, James Ivory, and Ismail Merchant were known as a "trio" because they worked together so closely. Their partnership was even recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest collaboration between a director and a producer.

Selected Filmography

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala wrote the screenplays for many films. Here are some of them:

Awards and Honors

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala received many awards for her writing and screenplays.

Academy Awards (Oscars)

British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs)

Other Major Awards

• 1975: Booker Prize – for her novel Heat and Dust
• 1984: MacArthur Fellowship – a special grant for talented individuals
• 1986: Writers Guild of America Award – for A Room with a View

Personal Life

In 1951, Ruth Prawer married Cyrus Shavaksha Hormusji Jhabvala. He was an Indian architect. They had three daughters: Ava, Firoza, and Renana.

From 1975 onwards, Ruth Jhabvala divided her time between India and the United States. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1986.

Death

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala passed away at her home in New York City on April 3, 2013. She was 85 years old. Her death was caused by problems related to a lung condition.

Merchant Ivory Productions said that her death was a "significant loss to the global film community." They remembered her as a "beloved member" of their team.

Literary Works

Novels and Novellas

Short Stories and Collections

See also

In Spanish: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala para niños