Portal:Literature/Biography archive/2006, Week 51

Heinrich Böll (December 21, 1917 – July 16, 1985) was one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers. Böll was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.

His first novel, Der Zug war pünktlich (The Train Was on Time), was published in 1949. Many other novels, short stories, radio plays and essay collections followed. He was the first German to receive this award since Hermann Hesse in 1946. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages. His best-known works are Billiards at Half-past Nine, The Clown, Group Portrait with Lady, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, and The Safety Net.