Hermann Karl Hesse (July 1877 – 1962) was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. When Hermann was 14 he ran away from his boarding school. Although only absent for a day, the boy was expelled and his parents had him committed to a mental aslyum. He ws released after several months and allowed to attend a local high school, but his relationship with his parents was permanently damaged. Hesse's best-known works include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.