Serbian · 1892–1975
Ivo Andrić won the 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature for "the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country." The Serbian author's "The Bridge on the Drina" follows a single bridge across four centuries of Balkan history, making regional experience universal. Andrić wrote his major novels during World War Two's German occupation of Belgrade, emerging with a trilogy that secured his place in world literature.