Born Israel Pincu Lazarovitch in Târgu Neamț to Jewish parents, he emigrated with his family to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1913. Layton graduated from Macdonald College in 1939 and received his M.A. in economics and political science from McGill University in 1946. He was an influential teacher (he taught modern English and American poetry at Sir George Williams University and at York University in Toronto) and many of his students became poets, writers, and artists.
Throughout the 1950s on to the 1980s, Layton travelled widely abroad and became especially popular in South Korea and Italy, and in 1981 these two nations nominated him for the Nobel Prize for Literature. (The prize that year was instead awarded to novelist Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez.) Among his many awards during his career was the Governor-General's Award for A Red Carpet for the Sun in 1959. In 1976 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
In 1995, Layton was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He died at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre in Montreal at the age of 93 on January 4, 2006.
Irving Layton is considered one of the best Canadian poets.
Irving Layton (n. 12 martie 1912 Târgu Neamț, România, d. 4 ianuarie 2006 Montreal, Canada), poet evreu canadian născut cu numele Israel Pincu Lazarovici, numele de fată al mamei sale fiind Flamplatz.
Familia sa a emigrat în 1913 în Canada și s-a stabilit la Montreal.
În 1934 s-a înscris la MacDonald College luându-și în 1939 licența în științe agricole.
În 1936 a cunoscut-o pe Faye Lynch,cu care s-a căsătorit în 1938.
Scârbit de viața pe care o ducea, și furios datorită ororilor săvârșite de Hitler, s-a înrolat în 1942 în armata canadiană.
Divorțează de prima soție și se căsătorește cu pictorița Betty Sutherland, cu care are primii doi copii: Maxwell Rubin (1946) și Naomi Parker (1950).
În 1943 a fost lăsat la vatră.
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