John Galsworthy

Biography

John Galsworthy (1867–1933) was an English novelist and playwright who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932. Born into a wealthy Surrey family, Galsworthy was educated at Harrow and Oxford and trained as a barrister before turning to writing. He is best known for The Forsyte Saga, a series of novels tracing three generations of an upper-middle-class English family from the 1880s to the 1920s. The saga began with The Man of Property (1906) and expanded through five novels and two interludes, creating one of the most comprehensive portraits of the English propertied class in transition. Galsworthy’s plays, including The Silver Box and Justice, were equally admired for their social criticism. His writing combines meticulous social observation with sympathy for individuals trapped by convention and property. The Nobel committee praised him for “his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga.” The saga was adapted into a celebrated BBC television series in 1967 and again in 2002.