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Swiss author Ruth Schweikert dies aged 57

Ruth Schweikert
Ruth Schweikert "entered the literary stage from out of nowhere with a blast of trumpets". Keystone / Ayse Yavas

Decorated Swiss author Ruth Schweikert, who won multiple awards for her novels, has died from cancer at the age of 57.

Born in Lörrach, southern Germany, Schweikert later moved settled with her family in Zurich. She came to literary attention for novels such as “Augen zu” (Eyes Shut) (1998), “Ohio” (2005) and “How we get older” (2015).

She was also known as a passionate contributor to political debates and as a campaigner.

The author received several awards, including the Swiss Schiller Foundation Prize (1999), the Art Prize of the City of Zurich (2016) and the Solothurn Literature Prize in the same year. 

“Ruth Schweikert entered the literary stage from out of nowhere with a blast of trumpets. Her stories were elementary, anarchic, with an irrepressible zest for life and an impetuous narrative power,” read an obituary in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The novel “Days like Dogs” (2019) allowed Schweikert to process a cancer diagnosis three years previously.

Schweikert served four years as president of the Swiss culture association Suisseculture and lectured at the Institute of Literature in Biel.

Schweikert was married to documentary filmmaker Eric Bergkraut and had five sons.

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