A Lifetime of Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most influential American writers and thinkers of the 20th century. Vonnegut’s work shakes traditional values, while offering offbeat and time-warping, alternative views of life.
December 19th, 1944
KV is captured at the Battle of the Bulge and taken to Dresden.
December 19th, 1944
May 14th, 1944
Kurt Vonnegut’s mother dies of an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills.
May 14th, 1944
1943
takes engineering courses at Carnegie and the University of Tennessee
1943
1940-1943
takes a few courses in Journalism at Butler.
1940-1943
1936-1940
and writes for the newspaper, the Shortridge Daily Echo.
1936-1940
November 11th 1922
He was the third and last child (preceded by Bernard and Alice) of Kurt Sr. and Edith (Lieber) Vonnegut.
November 11th 1922
February 13th, 1945
Survives the bombing of Dresden as a POW held captive in an underground slaughterhouse
February 13th, 1945
September 1st, 1945
KV marries Jane Cox in Indianapolis.
September 1st, 1945
May, 11th 1947
May, 11th 1947
December 29th, 1949
December 29th, 1949
1950
KV has his short story Report on the Barnhouse Effect published by Colliers magazine, quits GE, and moves his family to Barnstable, Massachusetts
1950
1952
1952
1961
1961
1961
Kurt Vonnegut publishes his first collection of short stories, Canary in a Cat House.
1961
1959
1959
1958
Kurt’s sister Alice dies of cancer, and her husband James passes away in a commuter train accident 48 hours previously. KV and Jane adopt 4 of Alice’s children.
1958
October 1st, 1957
October 1st, 1957
October 4th, 1954
October 4th, 1954
1963
1963
1965
KV publishes God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and begins a two-year residency at the University of Iowa’s Writers Workshop.
1965
1967
1967
1968
1968
1970
Kurt and Jane separate, he moves alone to New York City and produces his play Happy Birthday, Wanda June
1970
1973
1973
1987
1987
1990
1990
1991
another non-fiction collection
1991
1993
KV meets screenprinter Joe Petro III and they begin a visual art collaboration that lasts until KV’s death in 2007
1993
1997
1997
2005
Kurt Vonnegut publishes his last major work, A Man Without a Country, a non-fiction work
2005
April 11, 2007
Three weeks after a fall on the steps of his Manhattan brownstone, Kurt Vonnegut passes away.
April 11, 2007
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Kurt Vonnegut Museum And Library 2017-2023 - All Rights Reserved | The Kurt Vonnegut Museum And Library Is A 501(C)(3) Private Nonprofit Organization.
Support Kurt’s Legacy
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library 2017-2023 - All Rights Reserved | The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is a 501(c)(3) private nonprofit organization.
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