Literature: 1910

Heyse, Paul von (1830-1914), a German poet, playwright, and fiction writer, won the 1910 Nobel Prize for literature. He was the first German author to win the prize. Heyse was popular during much of his lifetime, but his reputation had declined by the time he won the prize and he is little read today.

Heyse wrote lyric poetry and tragedies in verse that are largely forgotten today, but critics have praised his short novels called novellas. He discussed his theory of the novella in his introduction to Treasury of German Novellas, published in 24 volumes from 1870 to 1876. Heyse wrote more than 100 novellas as well as 7 novels. He also translated Spanish and Italian literature into German. Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse was born in Berlin.