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Louis Adamic

ルイ・アダミック

Louis Adamic

Aliases: Alojzij Adamič / Alojzij Adamič（洗礼名）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1898-03-23 （Praproče pri Grosupljem, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Slovenia)）
Died
1951-09-04 （Riegelsville, New Jersey, United States） age 53
Nationality
Slovenia, United States
Languages
Slovene, English
Religion
Roman Catholic Baptized in 1898 （Baptismal Name: Alojzij Adamič）
Residence History
Childhood in Praproče pri Grosupljem (then Austro-Hungarian Empire, present-day Slovenia) → San Pedro, California (settled after immigration) → New York (journalism and publishing) → Riegelsville, New Jersey (later residence)

Career

Occupations
Author, Translator, Journalist, Editor
Active Years
1920-1951
Affiliations
Editor, Common Ground (magazine), Founder, United Committee of South-Slavic Americans, Corresponding member, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Memberships
Corresponding member, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Influenced
Rex Stout (influence on the origin of Nero Wolfe)

Awards

Guggenheim Fellowship
1932
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1941
Work: From Many Lands
Organization: Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Laughing in the Jungle: The Autobiography of an Immigrant in America

1932 Autobiography / Essays

Autobiographical account of Adamic's immigrant experience, depicting labor, ethnic communities, and the realities of life in the United States.

ImmigrationLaborAssimilation and Multiculturalism
Translations
  • Slovenian translation (Smeh v džungli, etc.)

Dynamite: The Story of Class Violence in America

1931 Social commentary / History

A nonfiction examination of class struggle and violence in America, focusing on labor movements and their suppression.

Class struggleLabor movementsSocial justice

The Native's Return: An American Immigrant Visits Yugoslavia and Discovers His Old Country

1934 Travel / Social commentary

Account of returning to his homeland in Yugoslavia, observing its society and politics; helped introduce Balkan issues to American readers.

HomelandNational identityPolitical critique

From Many Lands

1940 Essays / Social commentary

Collection of essays on immigrants and ethnic diversity; winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award.

MulticulturalismImmigration policyInterethnic understanding

Bibliography

  • Truth about Los Angeles (1927)
  • Robinson Jeffers: A Portrait (1929)
  • Dynamite: The Story of Class Violence in America (1931)
  • Laughing in the Jungle (1932)
  • The Native's Return (1934)
  • Grandsons: A Story of American Lives (1935)
  • Cradle of Life (1936)
  • House in Antigua (1937)
  • My America (1938)
  • From Many Lands (1940)
  • Two-Way Passage (1941)
  • Inside Yugoslavia (1942)
  • What's Your Name? (1942)
  • My Native Land (1943)
  • Nation of Nations (1945)
  • Dinner at the White House (1946)
  • The Eagle and the Roots (1950/1952)

Translations by Author

  • Yugoslav Proverbs (translator, 1923)
  • Yerney's Justice by Ivan Cankar (translator, 1926)

Translations of Works

  • Translations of Laughing in the Jungle into Slovene and other languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Journalistic, persuasive essay styleBlend of social critique and personal memoirDocumentary-like description
Recurring Motifs
Immigrant experienceLabor and classEthnicity and assimilation

Legacy

Influential in promoting awareness of immigrants and ethnic diversity in the United States; his works are valued as resources on labor and immigration history. He is remembered in Slovenia (e.g., institutions bearing his name) and influenced other writers.

Academic Societies

  • Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (corresponding member)

Archives

  • Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota

In Popular Culture

  • Said to have influenced Rex Stout's novel The Black Mountain (1954)

Quotes

  • "America would prosper by eventually 'going left'"
    Source: The Native's Return (1934) and related commentary (1934)

Trivia

  • Original surname spelled Adamič (Slovene).
  • Emigrated to the United States at age 15 in 1913.
  • Found dead at home in 1951; initially ruled a suicide though circumstances have been debated.
  • In 1957 cash was discovered in a wall of his former house.