Paul Nizon (born 19 December 1929 in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

) is a Swiss

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and writer.

Biography

The son of a Jewish chemist from

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

and a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

mother, after leaving school he studied history of art, classical archaeology and German language and literature in the universities of

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He obtained his doctorate in 1957 with a thesis on

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. He worked as an assistant at the Historisches Museum in Bern until 1959. In 1960, he was awarded a scholarship at the Swiss Institute in Rome. In 1961, he was a leading art critic of the

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

. Since 1962 Nizon, who has lived in Paris since 1977, has been a freelance writer. He has held various guest lectureships, including in 1984 in the University of Frankfurt am Main and 1987 in Washington University in St. Louis. Nizon's estate is archived in the

Swiss Literary Archives The Swiss Literary Archives (SLA – ''Schweizerische Literaturarchiv'') in Bern collects literary estates in all four national languages of Switzerland (German, French, Italian and Romansh language). It is part of the Swiss National Library op ...

Selected bibliography

* ''Die gleitenden Plätze'' (1959) * ''Canto'' (Suhrkamp, 1963) * ''Diskurs in der Enge'' (1970) * ''Im Hause enden die Geschichten'' (Suhrkamp, 1971) * ''Untertauchen. Protokoll einer Reise'' (Suhrkamp, 1972) * ''Stolz'' (Suhrkamp, 1975) * ''Das Jahr der Liebe'' (Suhrkamp, 1981). ''My Year of Love'', trans. Jean M. Snook (Dalkey Archive, 2013) * ''Im Bauch des Wals'' (Suhrkamp, 1989) * ''Hund'' (Suhrkamp, 1998) * ''Abschied von Europa'' (Suhrkamp, 2003) * ''Das Fell der Forelle'' (Suhrkamp, 2005)

Journals

* ''Die Innenseite des Mantels. Journal 1980–1989'' (Suhrkamp, 1995) * ''Die Erstausgaben der Gefühle. Journal 1961–1972'' (Suhrkamp, 2002) * ''Das Drehbuch der Liebe. Journal 1973–1979'' (Suhrkamp, 2004) * ''Die Zettel des Kuriers. Journal 1990–1999'' (Suhrkamp, 2008) * ''Urkundenfälschung. Journal 2000–2010'' (Suhrkamp, 2012) * ''Der Nagel im Kopf. Journal 2011–2020'' (Suhrkamp, 2021)

Awards and honors

Source: * Gert-Jonke-Preis 2017 * Schweizer Grand Prix Literatur 2014 * Literaturpreis des Kantons Bern 2012 * Austrian State Prize for European Literature 2010 * Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis 2007 * Buchpreis des Kantons Bern 2006 * Buchpreis der Stadt Bern für Das Fell der Forelle 2005 * Erich Fried Prize, Vienna 1996 * Großer Literaturpreis des Kantons Bern 1994 * Literaturpreis der Stadt Bern 1994 * Stadtschreiber von Bergen 1993 * Literaturpreis der Stadt Zürich 1992 * Marie-Luise-Kaschnitz-Preis 1990 * Torcello-Preis der Peter Suhrkamp Stiftung 1989 * France Culture Channel Award for Foreign Literature 1988 * Chevalier

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

1988 * Literaturpreis der Stadt Bern 1984 * Deutscher Kritikerpreis für Literatur 1982 * Preis der Schweizerischen Schillerstiftung 1982 * Literaturpreis der Freien Hansestadt Bremen 1975 * Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Preis 1972

References

External links

Literary estate of Paul Nizon
in the archive database HelveticArchives of the

Swiss National Library The Swiss National Library (, , , ) is the national library of Switzerland. Part of the Federal Office of Culture, it is charged with collecting, cataloging and conserving information in all fields, disciplines, and media connected with Switzerla ...

Publications by and about Paul Nizon
in the catalogue Helveticat of the Swiss National Library

Interview with P. Nizon (in German) Swiss art historians Swiss writers Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Writers from Bern 1929 births Living people Washington University in St. Louis faculty Academic staff of Goethe University Frankfurt University of Bern alumni {{Switzerland-writer-stub Swiss people of Belarusian-Jewish descent