Canetti

Canetti is a surname. It is most widely associated with Elias Canetti (1905–1994), a Bulgarian-born writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981.

Elias Canetti was born in Ruse, Bulgaria, into a family that owned a bookstore. He wrote in German and spent much of his life in exile following the rise of Nazism, living in the United Kingdom before settling in Switzerland. His first major novel, Auto-da-Fé (Die Blendung in German), appeared in 1935 and established his reputation for psychological intensity and social critique.

In 1960 he published Crowds and Power (Masse und Macht), a sweeping examination of crowd behavior, power, and ritual. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, described as a writer who created literature of universal significance through exploration of the human condition.

Today, Canetti is regarded as one of the major European writers of the 20th century; his work blends fiction, memoir, and critical essays, and his ideas about crowds and the psychology of power have influenced scholars in literary studies, sociology, and political science. The Canetti surname is used by other individuals, but Elias Canetti is its best-known bearer.