Literature · Film · Living
Born: 20 October 1946 · Age: 80
Elfriede Jelinek is 80 years old as of October 2026. She was born on 20 October 1946.
Austrian novelist and playwright of The Piano Teacher who won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her musical, unsparing work
Did you know?Despite her international fame, she suffers from social phobia and agoraphobia, which often prevents her from attending award ceremonies in person.
Elfriede Jelinek writes with fury about power, sex and violence. She grew up in Vienna under a strict mother who pushed her to become a musician. Her novel The Piano Teacher, about a repressed piano teacher, became a famous film by Michael Haneke. Her plays attack Austria's hidden Nazi past and its comfortable silence. Her style is bold, musical and full of word play. She won the Nobel Prize in 2004. Because of social anxiety, she did not attend the ceremony in person.
Elfriede Jelinek (German:; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist.
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Profile
Austrian writer, born 1946
Elfriede Jelinek was born in Mürzzuschlag on 20 October 1946.
She studied music in Vienna.
The Piano Teacher appeared in 1983.
She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004.
Career highlights
Did you know?She did not attend the Nobel ceremony in person.
Questions people ask
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Last reviewed: October 2026