Saul Bellow was a highly acclaimed author, born in Lachine, Quebec in 1915 and raised in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago and received his Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honors in sociology and anthropology. Bellow's graduate work at the University of Wisconsin was interrupted by his service in the Merchant Marines during World War II.
Bellow's writing career began with the publication of his first novel, "Dangling Man," in 1944, followed by "The Victim" in 1947. His breakthrough novel, "The Adventures of Augie March," was published in 1953 and won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. Over the course of his career, Bellow wrote numerous critically acclaimed novels, including "Seize The Day" (1956), "Henderson The Rain King" (1959), "Herzog" (1964), "Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories" (1968), and "Mr. Sammler's Planet" (1970). He also wrote non-fiction, with "To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account" published in 1976.
Bellow's accolades include being the first American to receive the International Literary Prize for "Herzog" in 1965, being awarded the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres by France in 1968, and receiving the B'nai B'rith Jewish Heritage Award for "excellence in Jewish literature" in the same year. In 1976, he was awarded the America's Democratic Legacy Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, and the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is the only novelist to receive three National Book Awards, for "The Adventures of Augie March," "Herzog," and "Mr. Sammler's Planet." Bellow was also a playwright, with productions on Broadway in 1966, and contributed fiction and criticism to various magazines and literary quarterlies. He taught at several universities, including Bard College, Princeton University, and the University of Minnesota, and was a member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.