Jacob the Liar is a novel written by the East German Jewish author Jurek Becker published in 1969. The German original title is Jakob der Lügner. Becker was awarded the Heinrich-Mann Prize (1971) and the Charles Veillon Prize (1971) after the publication of his bestseller. The novel was made into two films, Jacob the Liar (1975) by Frank Beyer, which was nominated for Best foreign language film at the Academy Awards, and Jakob the Liar (1999), a Hollywood production starring Robin Williams. Jacob the Liar was first translated into English by Melvin Kornfeld in 1975, but without Becker's input. A new English translation was made in 1990 by Leila Vennewitz and Becker, published in 1996 it won the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize.