J. M. Coetzee
South African and Australian novelist, Nobel laureate, and two-time Booker winner.
John Maxwell Coetzee was born on 9 February 1940 in Cape Town, then part of the Union of South Africa. His father, Zacharias Coetzee, worked occasionally as an attorney and for the government, and served in World War II to avoid prosecution on a criminal charge; his mother, Vera (née Wehmeyer), was a schoolteacher. The family spoke English at home, though Coetzee used Afrikaans with other relatives. His father’s side traces back to 17th-century Dutch settlers; his mother’s ancestry includes Dutch, German, and Polish immigrants. Her grandfather, born Balcer Dubiel in 1844 in the Polish village of Czarnylas, sparked Coetzee’s lifelong interest in Polish culture, which later informed his 2022 novel *The Pole*.
Coetzee grew up mainly in Cape Town and Worcester, as described in his fictionalised memoir *Boyhood* (1997). When he was eight, his father lost his government job, and the family moved to Worcester. He attended St. Joseph’s College, a Catholic school in Rondebosch, then studied mathematics and English at the University of Cape Town, earning a BA with honours in English in 1960 and another in mathematics in 1961. In 1962, he moved to the United Kingdom, working as a computer programmer for IBM in London and ICT in Bracknell until 1965. His time in England is covered in his second fictionalised memoir, *Youth* (2002). The University of Cape Town awarded him an MA in 1963 for a thesis on Ford Madox Ford.
In 1965, Coetzee went to the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied bibliography and Old English, taught students, and wrote a paper on the morphology of Nama, Malay, and Dutch for linguist Archibald A. Hill. His PhD dissertation used computer-aided stylistic analysis to examine Samuel Beckett’s English prose; he received his doctorate in 1969 after leaving Texas in 1968. That year, he began teaching English literature at the State University of New York at Buffalo, staying until 1971. There he started his first novel, *Dusklands*. From 1968, he sought permanent U.S. residency, but the process failed, partly due to his involvement in anti–Vietnam War protests. In March 1970, he was among 45 faculty members arrested for occupying Hayes Hall; charges were dropped in 1971. He later served on the faculty of the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought until 2003.
Returning to South Africa in 1972, Coetzee became a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Cape Town. He rose to senior lecturer, associate professor, and in 1984 became Professor of General Literature. In 1994, he was named Arderne Professor in English, and in 1999, Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Humanities. He retired in 2002 with emeritus status. After moving to Adelaide, Australia, he became an honorary research fellow at the University of Adelaide’s English Department, where his partner, Dorothy Driver, works. As of November 2023, he is listed as a University Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Humanities.
Coetzee’s first novel, *Dusklands*, appeared in 1974, and he has since published a novel roughly every three years. His work includes autobiographical novels, short fiction, translations from Dutch and Afrikaans, and many essays and critical pieces. His latest book is *The Pole and Other Stories* (2023). He has not set a novel in South Africa since 2009. Writing in *The Guardian* in 2009, James Meek observed that after *Disgrace*, Coetzee’s focus shifted from naturalistic storytelling toward essays, polemic, and memoir, often blended within a fictional framework. Meek identified three recurring alter egos in Coetzee’s work: a figure like the magistrate in *Waiting for the Barbarians* or David Lurie in *Disgrace*; a female proxy, the elderly novelist Elizabeth Costello; and Coetzee himself writing autobiographically.
- born
- 9 February 1940
- field
- Novelist, essayist, translator
- nationality
- South African and Australian
- known_for
- Recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature; first writer to win the Booker
Verified Timeline
Quick Facts
- Honorific Suffix
- size=100% · list=OMG AC FRSL
- Birth Name
- John Maxwell Coetzee
- Birth Date
- 1940-02-09
- Birth Place
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Citizenship
- South Africa · Australia (since 2006)
- Education
- University of Cape Town (BA, MA) · University of Texas at Austin (PhD)
- Occupation
- Novelist · essayist · translator
- Works
- Full list
- Spouse
- Philippa Jubber · 11 July 1963 · 1980 · end=div
- Partner
- Dorothy Driver (1980–present)
- Children
- 2
- Awards
- Booker Prize (1983, 1999) · Nobel Prize in Literature (2003)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Coetzee was born on 9 February 1940 in Cape Town, Union of South Africa. His father, Zacharias Coetzee, was an occasional attorney and government employee who enlisted in the army and fought in World War II to avoid being prosecuted on a criminal charge. His mother, Vera Coetzee (née Wehmeyer), was a schoolteacher. The family mainly spoke English at home, but Coetzee spoke Afrikaans with other relatives. His mother's grandfather was a Pole, born Balcer Dubiel in 1844 in the village of Czarnylas (Schwarzwald), in a part of Poland annexed by Prussia—this ancestry caused a lifelong preoccupation with Polish literature and culture, culminating in his 2022 novel *The Pole*. Coetzee studied mathematics and English at the University of Cape Town, earning a Bachelor of Arts with honours in English in 1960 and a Bachelor of Arts with honours in mathematics in 1961. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1962, working as a computer programmer for IBM in London and ICT in Bracknell until 1965. In 1963, the University of Cape Town awarded him a Master of Arts for his thesis *The Works of Ford Madox Ford with Particular Reference to the Novels*. In 1965, he went to the University of Texas at Austin, where his PhD dissertation was a computer-aided stylistic analysis of the English prose of Samuel Beckett. He taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1968 to 1971, where he began his first novel *Dusklands*. In March 1970, he was one of 45 faculty members who occupied Hayes Hall and were arrested for criminal trespass; charges were dropped in 1971. After returning to South Africa in 1972, he was appointed lecturer at the University of Cape Town, becoming Professor of General Literature in 1984, Arderne Professor in English in 1994, and Distinguished Professor in 1999. He retired in 2002 with emeritus status. In Adelaide, he became an honorary research fellow at the English Department of the University of Adelaide, and as of November 2023 is listed as University Professorial Research Fellow within the School of Humanities.
Reader's Guide
Coetzee's first novel was *Dusklands* (1974), and he has published a novel about every three years since. He has also written autobiographical novels, short fiction, translations from Dutch and Afrikaans, and numerous essays and works of criticism. His latest work is *The Pole and Other Stories* (2023). He has not written a novel set in South Africa since 2009. According to James Meek in *The Guardian* (2009), Coetzee has moved away from naturalistic storytelling toward essays, polemic, and memoir, often using alter egos including the magistrate in *Waiting for the Barbarians*, David Lurie in *Disgrace*, and the recurring character Elizabeth Costello. Coetzee was the first writer to be awarded the Booker Prize twice: for *Life & Times of Michael K* in 1983 and for *Disgrace* in 1999. *Summertime* (2009) was shortlisted for a third Booker but lost to *Wolf Hall*. On 2 October 2003, the Swedish Academy announced Coetzee as the Nobel Prize in Literature recipient, stating he 'in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider' and citing his 'well-crafted composition, pregnant dialogue and analytical brilliance'. He also won the CNA Literary Award three times (1977, 1980, 1983), the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for *Waiting for the Barbarians*, the *Sunday Express* Book of the Year for *Age of Iron*, *The Irish Times* International Fiction Prize for *The Master of Petersburg* (1995), the Prix Femina étranger, two Commonwealth Writers' Prizes (for *Master of St Petersburg* in 1995 and *Disgrace* in 2000), and the 1987 Jerusalem Prize. In 2005, the South African government awarded him the Order of Mapungubwe (gold class). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1988 and to the American Philosophical Society in 2006.
Did You Know?
- Coetzee's father enlisted in the army and fought in World War II to avoid being prosecuted on a criminal charge.
- His mother's grandfather was a Pole named Balcer Dubiel, born in 1844 in the village of Czarnylas (Schwarzwald), in a part of Poland annexed by Prussia.
- Coetzee's PhD dissertation was a computer-aided stylistic analysis of the English prose of Samuel Beckett.
- In March 1970, Coetzee was one of 45 faculty members arrested for criminal trespass after occupying Hayes Hall at the State University of New York at Buffalo in protest against the Vietnam War.
- Coetzee's novel *The Pole* was first published in Spanish as *El polaco* in Argentina in 2022, and in English the next year.
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