Born: 22 October 1919 · Died: 17 November 2013 · Age: 94
British novelist raised in Southern Rhodesia who wrote The Golden Notebook and won the Nobel Prize in Literature at 88
Did you know?She became the oldest person to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature when she was awarded the honour at eighty-eight.
Quick facts
Date of birth22 October 1919
Date of death17 November 2013
Age at death94
Cause of deathStroke
NationalityBritish
BirthplaceKermanshah, Iran
Occupationwriter, poet, novelist
Editor's Take:
Doris Lessing wrote about women's lives with fierce honesty. Born in Persia, she grew up on a farm in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. She left school at 14 and educated herself through reading. She moved to London in 1949 with her first novel in her suitcase. The Golden Notebook became a landmark for many feminist readers. She also wrote about Africa, politics and science fiction. She won the Nobel Prize at 88.
Key Milestones
1949: London – moves to England
1950: The Grass Is Singing – first novel
1962: The Golden Notebook – novel
1979: Canopus in Argos – science fiction
Doris May Lessing (née Tayler; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British novelist – sometimes identified as Rhodesian early in her career – and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007. Lessing was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until she was 6 in 1925.
