Shusaku Endo

Shusaku Endo (1923-1996) was born in Tokyo and studied French literature at Keio University. He continued his studies in Lyon with a scholarship from the French government and lived in France for a long time due to tuberculosis, from which he suffered for about a decade. As one of the greatest contemporary Japanese authors, he was awarded the Akutagawa, Mainichi, Shincho, Tanizaki, and Noma prizes. In 1981, he was elected a member of the Japan Art Academy. He was considered the Graham Greene of Japan, a prolific writer who did not emphasize the exotic elements of his country but dealt with very different themes, such as experiences from World War II and the incomprehension between the East and the West. Shusaku Endo's books have been published in 28 countries. His novel "Silence" has been translated into Greek and was adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese. The last book he published was titled "Deep River" (1993).