John Maxwell Coetzee
| J. M. Coetzee | |
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J. M. Coetzee in Warsaw (2006)
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| Born | John Maxwell Coetzee 9 February 1940 Cape Town, South Africa |
| Occupation | Novelist, essayist, literary critic, linguist, translator |
| Language | English, Afrikaans, Dutch |
| Nationality |
South African Australian (since 2006) |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin, University of Cape Town |
| Notable awards |
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John Maxwell "J. M." Coetzee (/kʊtˈsiː/ kuut-SEE;Afrikaans: [kutˈsɪə]; born 9 February 1940) is a South African novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He relocated to Australia in 2002 and lives in Adelaide. He became an Australian citizen in 2006.
In 2013, Richard Poplak of the Daily Maverick described Coetzee as "inarguably the most celebrated and decorated living English-language author". Before receiving the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, Coetzee was awarded the Jerusalem Prize, CNA Prize (thrice), the Prix Femina Étranger, The Irish Times International Fiction Prize and the Booker Prize (twice), among other accolades.
He was born in Cape Town, Cape Province, Union of South Africa, on 9 February 1940 to Afrikaner parents. His father, Zacharias Coetzee (1912-1988), was an occasional attorney and government employee, and his mother, Vera Coetzee (born Wehmeyer; 1904-1986), a schoolteacher. The family mainly spoke English at home, but John spoke Afrikaans with other relatives. He is descended from early Dutch immigrants to South Africa in the 17th century, while his mother was a descendant of German and Polish immigrants.
Coetzee spent most of his early life in Cape Town and in Worcester in Cape Province (modern-day Western Cape), as recounted in his fictionalised memoir, Boyhood (1997). The family moved to Worcester when he was eight, after his father had lost his government job. He attended St. Joseph's College, a Catholic school in the Cape Town suburb of Rondebosch, later studying mathematics and English at the University of Cape Town and receiving his Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English in 1960 and his Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Mathematics in 1961.
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