Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel Committee recognized him “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”
Krasznahorkai, born in 1954 in the town of Gyula in southeastern Hungary to a Jewish family, is one of Central Europe’s most acclaimed literary figures. His works are known for their complex, haunting prose and philosophical depth, often exploring the tension between hope and despair in the modern world.
The son of György Krasznahorkai, a lawyer, and Júlia Pálinkás, a social security administrator, he discovered his father’s Jewish heritage as a child, a revelation that shaped his sense of identity and worldview.
Krasznahorkai gained international attention with his debut novel Sátántangó (1985), a bleak and powerful depiction of life on a decaying collective farm. The book became a landmark of Hungarian literature and was later adapted into a seven-hour film by director Béla Tarr. His subsequent novels, including The Melancholy of Resistance (1989) and War & War (1999), further established his reputation as a visionary writer exploring moral and existential collapse.
The Nobel Committee described his writing as a reaffirmation of art’s endurance amid devastation. Chair Anders Olsson said Krasznahorkai “portrays, in masterful prose, the brutal struggle between order and disorder.”
Krasznahorkai has also written extensively about beauty and artistic creation, notably in Seiobo There Below (2008), a collection inspired by Eastern philosophy. His works have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into films and operas.
Now living reclusively in Hungary, Krasznahorkai joins the ranks of Nobel laureates whose writings reflect both the fragility and resilience of the human spirit.