James Joyce (1882 – 1941) – Productive Years in Zurich
James Joyce made his mark on modern literature with his "stream of consciousness". He made Zurich his home during the First World War.
James Joyce, the famous Irish writer, is reputed to have once said that Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse was so clean that one could drink minestrone soup off the pavement. During the First World War, Joyce sought refuge in neutral Switzerland. When he returned to Zurich in 1940 after 20 years in Paris, he died just weeks later following an operation.
He is considered to be one of the most influential writers of 20th century literature, among other things due to the novels that he wrote in Zurich: “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”, ”Ulysses” and “Exiles”. A memorial plaque adorns the wall at Universitätsstrasse 38, one of the addresses where Joyce lived. He was buried at the Zurich-Fluntern cemetery, in grave no. 1449.
