Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

CBE
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala; CBE
	Jhabvala in 1987
Born	Ruth Prawer; 7 May 1927; Cologne, Weimar Republic
Died	3 April 2013 (aged 85); New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist; screenwriter;
Citizenship	United Kingdom (1948–2013); United States (1986–2013);
Alma mater	Queen Mary University of London
Period	1955–2013
Notable awards	Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; 1986 A Room with a View; 1992 Howards End; BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; 1983 Heat and Dust; Booker Prize; 1975 Heat and Dust; MacArthur Fellowship; 1984; Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay; 1986 A Room with a View;
Spouse	Cyrus Jhabvala (m. 1951)
Children	3, including Renana
Relatives	Siegbert Salomon Prawer (brother)

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala CBE (née Prawer; 7 May 1927 – 3 April 2013) was a British and American novelist and screenwriter. She is best known for her collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of film director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant.

After marrying Indian architect Cyrus Jhabvala in 1951 and moving from England to New Delhi, she began to write novels and tales on Indian subjects. She wrote a dozen novels, 23 screenplays, and eight collections of short stories. After moving to the United States, she started writing screenplays for Merchant Ivory films. She is the only person to have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar.