John Galsworthy, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1932

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John Galsworthy

Birthplace: Kingston Upon Thames, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Death: Died in City of London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Cause of death: Stroke
Place of Burial: Cremated
Immediate Family:

Son of John Galsworthy, Sr. and Blanche Bailey Galsworthy
Husband of Ada Nemesis Galsworthy

Occupation: English novelist and playwright
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About John Galsworthy, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1932

John Galsworthy OM (14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga (1906–1921) and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1932, "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga"



From the Four Winds, a collection of short stories, was Galsworthy's first published work in 1897. These and several subsequent works were published under the pen name John Sinjohn, and it would not be until The Island Pharisees (1904) that he would begin publishing under his own name, probably owing to the death of his father. His first full length novel, Jocelyn was published in an edition of 750 under the name of John Sinjohn - he later refused to have it republished. His first play, The Silver Box (1906), - in which the theft of a prostitute's purse by a rich 'young man of good family' is placed beside the theft of a silver cigarette case from the rich man's father's house by 'a poor devil' , with very different repercussions - became a success, and he followed it up with The Man of Property (1906), the first in the Forsyte trilogy. Although he continued writing both plays and novels, it was as a playwright that he was mainly appreciated at the time. Along with those of other writers of the time, such as George Bernard Shaw, his plays addressed the class system and social issues, two of the best known being Strife (1909) and The Skin Game (1920).



John Galsworthy lived for the final seven years of his life at Bury in West Sussex. He died from a brain tumour at his London home, Grove Lodge, Hampstead. In accordance with his will he was cremated at Woking with his ashes then being scattered over the South Downs from an aeroplane, but there are also memorials in Highgate 'New' Cemetery and in the cloisters of New College, Oxford (the latter cut and placed in the cloisters by Eric Gill). The popularity of his fiction waned quickly after his death but the hugely successful adaptation of The Forsyte Saga in 1967 renewed interest in his work.




The Forsyte Saga has been filmed several times:

  • That Forsyte Woman (1949), dir. by Compton Bennett, an MGM adaptation in which Errol Flynn played a rare villainous role as Soames.
  • BBC television drama (1967), dir. by James Cellan Jones, David Giles, starring Eric Porter, Nyree Dawn Porter, Kenneth More, Susan Hampshire, Joseph O'Conor, adaptor Lennox Philips and others, 26 parts
  • Granada television drama (2002), dir. by Christopher Menaul, starring Gina McKee, Damian Lewis, Rupert Graves, Corin Redgrave, 13 parts.
  • Escape was filmed in 1930 and 1948. The latter was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Rex Harrison, Peggy Cummins, William Hartnell. The screenplay was by Philip Dunne.
  • The 1988 film A Summer Story was based on Galsworthy's The Apple Tree.

Selected works:

   * From The Four Winds, 1897 (as John Sinjohn)
   * Jocelyn, 1898 (as John Sinjohn)
   * Villa Rubein, 1900 (as John Sinjohn)
   * A Man Of Devon, 1901 (as John Sinjohn)
   * The Island Pharisees, 1904
   * The Silver Box, 1906 (his first play)
   * The Forsyte Saga, 1906–21, 1922
         o The Man Of Property, 1906
         o (interlude) Indian Summer of a Forsyte, 1918
         o In Chancery, 1920
         o (interlude) Awakening, 1920
         o To Let, 1921
   * The Country House, 1907
   * A Commentary, 1908
   * Fraternity, 1909
   * A Justification For The Censorship Of Plays, 1909
   * Strife, 1909
   * Fraternity, 1909
   * Joy, 1909
   * Justice, 1910
   * A Motley, 1910
   * The Spirit Of Punishment, 1910
   * Horses In Mines, 1910
   * The Patrician, 1911
   * The Little Dream, 1911
   * The Pigeon, 1912
   * The Eldest Son, 1912
   * Moods, Songs, And Doggerels, 1912
   * For Love Of Beasts, 1912
   * The Inn Of Tranquillity, 1912
   * The Dark Flower, 1913
   * The Fugitive, 1913
   * The Mob, 1914
   * The Freelands, 1915
   * The Little Man, 1915
   * A Bit's Love, 1915
   * A Sheaf, 1916
   * The Apple Tree, 1916
   * Beyond, 1917
   * Five Tales, 1918
   * Saint's Progress, 1919
   * Addresses In America, 1912
   * The Foundations, 1920
   * In Chancery, 1920
   * Awakening, 1920
   * The Skin Game, 1920

   * To Let, 1920
   * A Family Man, 1922
   * The Little Man, 1922
   * Loyalties, 1922
   * Windows, 1922
   * Captures, 1923
   * Abracadabra, 1924
   * The Forest, 1924
   * Old English, 1924
   * The Show, 1925
   * Escape, 1926
   * Verses New And Old, 1926
   * Castles In Spain, 1927
   * A Modern Comedy, 1924–1928, 1929
         o The White Monkey, 1924
         o (Interlude) a Silent Wooing, 1927
         o The Silver Spoon, 1926
         o (Interlude) Passers By, 1927
         o Swan Song, 1928
   * Two Forsyte Interludes, 1927
   * The Manaton Edition, 1923–26 (collection, 30 vols.)
   * Exiled, 1929
   * The Roof, 1929
   * On Forsyte 'Change, 1930
   * Two Essays On Conrad, 1930
   * Soames And The Flag, 1930
   * The Creation Of Character In Literature, 1931 (The Romanes Lecture for 1931).
   * Maid In Waiting, 1931
   * Forty Poems, 1932
   * Flowering Wilderness, 1932
   * Over the River, 1933
   * Autobiographical Letters Of Galsworthy: A Correspondence With Frank Harris, 1933
   * The Grove Edition, 1927–34 (collection, 27 Vols.)
   * Collected Poems, 1934
   * End Of the Chapter, 1931–1933, 1934 (posthumously)
         o Maid In Waiting, 1931
         o Flowering Wilderness, 1932
         o One More River, 1933 (originally the English edition was called Over the River)
   * Punch And Go, 1935
   * The Life And Letters, 1935
   * The Winter Garden, 1935
   * Forsytes, Pendyces And Others, 1935
   * Selected Short Stories, 1935
   * Glimpses And Reflections, 1937
   * Galsworthy's Letters To Leon Lion, 1968
   * Letters From John Galsworthy 1900–1932, 1970
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John Galsworthy, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1932's Timeline

August 14, 1867
Kingston Upon Thames, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
January 31, 1933
Age 65
City of London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom