Lewis, Sinclair: - SINCLAIR LEWIS (1885-1951) was one of the preeminent American authors of the twentieth century. His novel Arrowsmith won the Pulitzer Prize in 1926, and in 1929, he became the first American author to win a Nobel Prize in world literature. In novels such as Arrowsmith, Babbit, and Elmer Gantry, Lewis expressed his deep respect for egalitarian, democratic values while creating characters made memorable by the affectionate humor Lewis used to create their portraits.