Nobel Prize in Literature 1951---1953

[Ben Jackson]

For the Nobel Prizes in 1951, 1952 and 1953, 25 writers, 40 writers and 24 writers we're nominated for the Prizez that went to Par Lagerkvist, Francois Mauriac and Winston Churchill. Three writers we're shortlisted for the Prize in 1951 and 1953, while two writers were shortlisted in 1952.

For the Prize in 1951, the committee unanimously voted for Par Lagerkvist after the publication of his masterpiece Barrabas. Martin Anderson Nexo's major work Pelle the Conqueror, meanwhile, was praised by the Committee but his other works weren't up to the level of his acclaimed masterpiece. Thorton Wilder, praised for works like Our Town, was dismissed for lack of authenticity in the work Skin of Our Teeth.

The shortlist for 1953 was the historian and war veteran Winston Churchill, E M Forster and American Poet Carl Sandburg. The Committee felt that enough time has passed since World War Il. Carl Sandburg's poetry was deemed too pessimistic, while E M Forster was dismissed for not producing a major work since A Passage to India. And so, Churchill was awarded the Prize.

French writers Francois Mauriac and Albert Schweitzer were both shortlisted for the Nobel. Per Hallstrom praised the personality of Albert Schweitzer and his work in Africa, but the decision was passed over in silence, due to Schweitzer been on the shortlist for the Nobel Peace Prize that same year. Few days before the announcement, the Norweigan Academy, responsible for awarding the Peace Prize, sent a letter to Swedish Academy notifying them of their decision in awarding Schweitzer for Peace Prize. And with that decision, the Swedish Academy had no other option but to choose Mauriac.

 

[Leseratte]

For the Nobel Prizes in 1951, 1952 and 1953, 25 writers, 40 writers and 24 writers we're nominated for the Prizez that went to Par Lagerkvist, Francois Mauriac and Winston Churchill. Three writers we're shortlisted for the Prize in 1951 and 1953, while two writers were shortlisted in 1952.

For the Prize in 1951, the committee unanimously voted for Par Lagerkvist after the publication of his masterpiece Barrabas. Martin Anderson Nexo's major work Pelle the Conqueror, meanwhile, was praised by the Committee but his other works weren't up to the level of his acclaimed masterpiece. Thorton Wilder, praised for works like Our Town, was dismissed for lack of authenticity in the work Skin of Our Teeth.

The shortlist for 1953 was the historian and war veteran Winston Churchill, E M Forster and American Poet Carl Sandburg. The Committee felt that enough time has passed since World War Il. Carl Sandburg's poetry was deemed too pessimistic, while E M Forster was dismissed for not producing a major work since A Passage to India. And so, Churchill was awarded the Prize.

French writers Francois Mauriac and Albert Schweitzer were both shortlisted for the Nobel. Per Hallstrom praised the personality of Albert Schweitzer and his work in Africa, but the decision was passed over in silence, due to Schweitzer been on the shortlist for the Nobel Peace Prize that same year. Few days before the announcement, the Norweigan Academy, responsible for awarding the Peace Prize, sent a letter to Swedish Academy notifying them of their decision in awarding Schweitzer for Peace Prize. And with that decision, the Swedish Academy had no other option but to choose Mauriac.

Thanks for this history of the Nobel award, Ben. It helps to have an access as to how the committee proceeded to make its choices.

"French writers Francois Mauriac and Albert Schweitzer were both shortlisted for the Nobel 1952?.( Didn´t you forget to include the year here?)

 

[Ben Jackson]

Thanks for this history of the Nobel award, Ben. It helps to have an access as to how the committee proceeded to make its choices.

"French writers Francois Mauriac and Albert Schweitzer were both shortlisted for the Nobel 1952?.( Didn´t you forget to include the year here?)

Just forgot to include the year. Thanks for that.

 

[Verkhovensky]

i wonder why Forster was chosen... perhaps because he was still writing in an incredibly preraphaelite style which at this point was still popular

Forster more or less spent the last half a century of his life without writing anything major. Published A Passage to India at 45, died at 91, in between just a few essay collections, one libretto and collected stories. That probably destroyed his chances, they usually want the writer to be active when getting the prize.

Re: this thread - Mauriac is severely underrated.

 

[alik-vit]

Re: this thread - Mauriac is severely ununderrated.

Totally totally totally agree. I did read "Thérèse Desqueyroux" Quartet, when I was still very young (18 or 19 years old, maybe) and it was too "realistic" for my then preferences. But two years ago I made some sort of come back to his oeuvre with "The Lamb" and "The Little Misery" and I was almost shocked by subtility of his psychological characteristics. It was not preaching catholic novelist, but very dark and penetrating gaze. Highly recommended.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Some Facts for 1953 Nobel Prize:
First Time Nominees:
Gottfried Benn
Max Mell
Alberto Hidalgo

Nominated writers from Academy:
Carl Sandburg, Walter de la Mare-- Harry Martinson
Juan Ramon Jimenez, Robert Frost-- Hjalmar Gullberg
Ernest Hemingway--- Elias Wessen

Nominations from Nobel Laureates:
Alberto Hidalgo (Gabriela Mistral)
Mark Aldanov (Ivan Bunin)

Nominees that would later become Nobel Laureates:
Ernest Hemingway
Hall Dor Laxness
Juan Ramon Jimenez

Famous Names (some of them former finalists)
Johan Falkberget
E M Forster
Graham Greene
Nikos Kazantzakis
Alfonso Reyes
Jules Romains
Stijn Streuvels
Tarjel Vessas

Books highlighted by the Nobel Committee:

Winston Churchill: Great Contemporaries, Rhetorics, Second World Wars, My Early Life, World Crisis, The River War, Thoughts and Adventures
Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms, Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bells Tolls, Across the River and Into The Trees, In Our Time
Carl Sandburg: Cornhuskers, Chicago Poems, Lincoln: a Biography
E M Forster: Room with a View, A Passage to India, Howard's End, Aspects of the Novel
Gottfried Benn: Poems, Essays (rejected by Nobel Committee for his role as Nazi-party member).

Nobel Committee members:
Per Hallstrom
Sigfried Siwertz
Hjalmar Gullberg
Anders Osterling
Nils Ahnlund and Gustaf Hellstrom Co-opt members

 

[Ben Jackson]

Francois Mauriac was awarded the Nobel Literature Prize "for deep spiritual insight and artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life." Announced on 6th November, 40 names were suggested.

Some Facts for 1952 Nobel Literature Prize:

First time nominees:

Juan Ramon Jimenez
Albert Schweitzer
John Dover Wilson
Charles Plisnier
Paul Vialar
Louis Artus
Van Wyck Brooks
Walter De La Mare
Julien Benda
Salvador de Madriaga
Warner Bergengruen

Nominations from Nobel Laureates:
Mark Aldanov (Ivan Bunin)
Van Wyck Brooks (Pearl S Buck)
Concha Espina de la Serna (Jacinto Benevente)

Nominations from Academy Members:
Albert Schweitzer (Nils Ahnlund)
Graham Greene, Albert Camus (Hjalmar Gullberg)
Walter De La Mare, Benedetto Croce (Harry Martinson)
Winston Churchill (Gustaf Hellstrom)

Nominees that would become Laureates:
Albert Camus
Hall Dor Laxness
Winston Churchill
Juan Ramon Jimenez

Famous Names nominated (some were finalist in the previous years):

Tarjel Vessas
Carl Sandburg
Robert Frost
Jules Romains
Sarvepalli Radhkrishnan
Ramon Menedez Pidal
Andre Malraux
Nikos Kazantzakis
Taha Hussein
Jean Giono
E M Forster

Books Highlighted by the Nobel Committee:

Francois Mauriac: Desert of Love, Therese, Flesh and Blood, Kiss of the Leper, Viper's Tangle, Black Notebook, Love and Unloved, Journals (3 Vols), Woman of Pharisee, Proust's Way, End of Thought

Albert Schweitzer: JS Bach (2 Vols), Quest for Historical Jesus, African Notebook, On Edge of Primeval Forest, Philosophy of Civilisation, Out of my Life and Thought, Mysticism of Paul the Apostle

Hans Carossa: Different Worlds, Boyhood and Youth, Childhood, War Diary, Fortunes of Doctor Burger, Year of Sweet Illusions

Per Hallstrom was very impressed with the autobiographical writings of Hans Carossa which revealed the interior behaviour of individuals, but the other committee members rejected Carossa's writings as not superior over Mauriac.

Nobel Committee Members:
Sigfried Siwertz
Per Hallstrom (co-opt member)
Anders Osterling
Hjalmar Gullberg
Nils Ahnulund (co-opt member)

 

[Ben Jackson]

Par Lagerkvist won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for artistic vigor and true independence of mind with which he endeavours in his poetry to find answers to eternal questions confronting mankind." 25 writers were suggested.

Some Facts for 1951 Nobel Literature Prize:

First Time Nominees:
Ezequiel Martinez Estrada
Sotiris Skipis
Katherine Susannah Prichard
Maria Enriqueta Camarillo
Romulo Gallegos
Jose Maria Ferreira De Castro

Nominations from Swedish Academy:

George Duhamel, Julio Dantas (Hjalmar Hammarskjold)
Angelos Sikelianos, Nikos Kazantzakis (Sigfrid Siwertz)
Par Lagerkvist (Hjalmar Gullberg)

Nominations from Nobel Laureates:
Par Lagerkvist (Andre Gide and Roger Martin Du Gard)
Mark Aldanov (Ivan Bunin)

Nominated Women:
Katharine Sussanah Prichard
Maria Enriqueta Camarillo

Famous names (nominees were finalists in previous years):
Paul Claudel
Taha Hussein
Ramon Menedez Pidal
Alfred Noyes
Mika Waltari

Nominees that would later become Nobel Laureates:
Shmuel Agnon Yosef
Winston Churchill
Hall Dor Laxness

Books highlighted by the Nobel Committee:

Par Lagerkvist: Guest of Reality, The Dwarf, Barrabbas, Songs from the Heart, Verbal Art and Pictoria Art, Evil Tales, He Who Lived his Life Over Again, Anguish, Difficult Hour

Ortega Y Gasset: Dehumanization of Art, Revolt of the Masses (rejected for his works not being characterized as Literature)

Martin Anderson Nexo: Pelle the Conqueror, Ditte, In God's Land, From the Soil, Towards the Dawn, Reminiscences, Morten the Red

Thornton Wilder: Skin of Our Teeth, Our Town, Merchant of Yonkers, Bridge of San Luis Rey

Nobel Committee Members:
Ander Osterling
Sigfried Siwertz
Hjalmar Gullberg