born Feb. 7, 1885, Sauk Center, Minn., U.S.
died Jan. 10, 1951, near Rome, Italy
U.S. novelist and social critic.
He worked as a reporter and magazine writer before making his literary reputation with Main Street (1920), a portrayal of Midwestern provincialism. Among his other popular satirical novels puncturing middle-class complacency are Babbitt (1922), a scathing study of a conformist businessman; Arrowsmith (1925), a look at the medical profession; Elmer Gantry (1927), an indictment of fundamentalist religion; and Dodsworth (1929), the story of a rich American couple in Europe. He won the 1930 Nobel Prize for Literature, the first given to an American. His later novels include Cass Timberlaine (1945). Lewis's reputation declined in later years, and he lived abroad much of the time. He was married to Dorothy Thompson from 1928 to 1942.
Sinclair Lewis.
The Granger Collection