Herman Hesse was a German-Swiss poet and novelist whose works explored the issues of spiritual enlightenment, personal growth, religion and philosophy. Enormously successful during his lifetime, Hesse would ultimately be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. Fascinated with Eastern religions and teachings, Hesse spent his career trying to soothe his own restless and unfulfilled yearnings for peace, tranquility and fulfillment and produced some of the most widely-read and incisive European explorations of Eastern philosophy, such as "Demian," "Steppenwolf," "Siddhartha" and "Narcissus and Goldmund." A literary titan, Herman Hesse is regularly named among the most admired and honored writers of the 20th century.