List of Nobel Laureates in Literatur1

8/8/2019 List of Nobel Laureates in Literatur1

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List of Nobel laureates in Literature

Year Laureate Country Rationale

1901 SullyPrudhomme

France

"in special recognition of his poetic

composition, which gives evidence oflofty idealism, artistic perfection and arare combination of the qualities of bothheart and intellect"[9]

1902TheodorMommsen

Germany

"the greatest living master of the art ofhistorical writing, with special referenceto his monumental work,A History of

Rome"[10]

1903 BjrnstjerneBjrnson

Norway

"as a tribute to his noble, magnificent andversatile poetry, which has always beendistinguished by both the freshness of itsinspiration and the rare purity of itsspirit"[11]

1904

FrdricMistral

France

"in recognition of the fresh originality andtrue inspiration of his poetic production,which faithfully reflects the naturalscenery and native spirit of his people,and, in addition, his significant work as aProvenal philologist"[12]

JosEchegaray

Spain

"in recognition of the numerous and

brilliant compositions which, in anindividual and original manner, haverevived the great traditions of the Spanishdrama"[12]

1905HenrykSienkiewicz

Poland"because of his outstanding merits as anepic writer"[13]

1906 GiosuCarducci Italy

"not only in consideration of his deeplearning and critical research, but above

all as a tribute to the creative energy,freshness of style, and lyrical force whichcharacterize his poetic masterpieces"[14]

1907RudyardKipling

United Kingdom

"in consideration of the power ofobservation, originality of imagination,virility of ideas and remarkable talent fornarration which characterize the creationsof this world-famous author"[15]


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1908RudolfChristophEucken

Germany

"in recognition of his earnest search fortruth, his penetrating power of thought,his wide range of vision, and the warmthand strength in presentation with which inhis numerous works he has vindicated anddeveloped an idealistic philosophy of

life"[16]

1909SelmaLagerlf

Sweden"in appreciation of the lofty idealism,vivid imagination and spiritual perceptionthat characterize her writings"[17]

1910Paul vonHeyse

Germany

"as a tribute to the consummate artistry,permeated with idealism, which he hasdemonstrated during his long productivecareer as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist

and writer of world-renowned shortstories"[18]

1911MauriceMaeterlinck

Belgium

"in appreciation of his many-sided literaryactivities, and especially of his dramaticworks, which are distinguished by awealth of imagination and by a poeticfancy, which reveals, sometimes in theguise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration,while in a mysterious way they appeal tothe readers' own feelings and stimulatetheir imaginations"[19]

1912GerhartHauptmann

Germany"primarily in recognition of his fruitful,varied and outstanding production in therealm of dramatic art"[20]

1913RabindranathTagore

India

"because of his profoundly sensitive,fresh and beautiful verse, by which, withconsummate skill, he has made his poeticthought, expressed in his own Englishwords, a part of the literature of theWest"[21]

1914 Not awarded

1915RomainRolland

France

"as a tribute to the lofty idealism of hisliterary production and to the sympathyand love of truth with which he hasdescribed different types of human

beings"[22]


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1916Verner vonHeidenstam

Sweden"in recognition of his significance as theleading representative of a new era in ourliterature"[23]

1917

Karl Adolph

Gjellerup Denmark

"for his varied and rich poetry, which is

inspired by lofty ideals"[24]

HenrikPontoppidan

Denmark"for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark"[24]

1918 Not awarded

1919 Carl Spitteler Switzerland "in special appreciation of his epic,Olympian Spring"[25]

1920 Knut Hamsun Norway"for his monumental work, Growth of theSoil"[26]

1921AnatoleFrance

France

"in recognition of his brilliant literaryachievements, characterized as they are

by a nobility of style, a profound human

sympathy, grace, and a true Gallictemperament"[27]

1922JacintoBenavente

Spain"for the happy manner in which he hascontinued the illustrious traditions of theSpanish drama"[28]

1923William

Butler YeatsIreland

"for his always inspired poetry, which in ahighly artistic form gives expression tothe spirit of a whole nation"[29]

1924WadysawReymont

Poland"for his great national epic, The

Peasants"[30]


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1925GeorgeBernard Shaw

Ireland

"for his work which is marked by bothidealism and humanity, its stimulatingsatire often being infused with a singular

poetic beauty"[31]

1926GraziaDeledda

Italy

"for her idealistically inspired writingswhich with plastic clarity picture the lifeon her native island and with depth andsympathy deal with human problems ingeneral"[32]

1927HenriBergson

France"in recognition of his rich and vitalizingideas and the brilliant skill with whichthey have been presented"[33]

1928 Sigrid Undset Norway"principally for her powerful descriptionsof Northern life during the MiddleAges"[34]

1929ThomasMann

Germany

"principally for his great novel,Buddenbrooks, which has won steadilyincreased recognition as one of the classicworks of contemporary literature"[35]

1930SinclairLewis

United States

"for his vigorous and graphic art ofdescription and his ability to create, withwit and humour, new types ofcharacters"[36]

1931Erik AxelKarlfeldt

Sweden "The poetry of Erik Axel Karlfeldt"[37]

1932JohnGalsworthy

United Kingdom"for his distinguished art of narrationwhich takes its highest form in The

Forsyte Saga"[38]


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1933 Ivan Buninstatelessdomicile inFrance

"for the strict artistry with which he hascarried on the classical Russian traditionsin prose writing"[39]

1934LuigiPirandello

Italy"for his bold and ingenious revival ofdramatic and scenic art"[40]

1935 Not awarded

1936EugeneO'Neill

United States"for the power, honesty and deep-feltemotions of his dramatic works, whichembody an original concept of tragedy"[41]

1937Roger Martindu Gard

France

"for the artistic power and truth withwhich he has depicted human conflict aswell as some fundamental aspects ofcontemporary life in his novel cycleLesThibault"[42]

1938 Pearl S. Buck United States"for her rich and truly epic descriptions of

peasant life in China and for herbiographical masterpieces"[43]

1939Frans EemilSillanp

Finland

"for his deep understanding of hiscountry's peasantry and the exquisite artwith which he has portrayed their way oflife and their relationship with Nature"[44]

1940 Not awarded

1941 Not awarded

1942 Not awarded

1943 Not awarded

1944JohannesVilhelmJensen

Denmark"for the rare strength and fertility of hispoetic imagination with which iscombined an intellectual curiosity of widescope and a bold, freshly creativestyle"[45]


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1945GabrielaMistral

Chile

"for her lyric poetry which, inspired bypowerful emotions, has made her name asymbol of the idealistic aspirations of theentire Latin American world"[46]

1946HermannHesse

Switzerland

"for his inspired writings which, whilegrowing in boldness and penetration,exemplify the classical humanitarianideals and high qualities of style"[47]

1947 Andr Gide France

"for his comprehensive and artisticallysignificant writings, in which human

problems and conditions have beenpresented with a fearless love of truth andkeen psychological insight"[48]

1948 T. S. EliotUnited States /United Kingdom

"for his outstanding, pioneer contributionto present-day poetry"[49]

1949WilliamFaulkner

United States"for his powerful and artistically uniquecontribution to the modern Americannovel"[50]

1950BertrandRussell

United Kingdom"in recognition of his varied andsignificant writings in which hechampions humanitarian ideals andfreedom of thought"[51]

1951PrLagerkvist

Sweden

"for the artistic vigour and trueindependence of mind with which heendeavours in his poetry to find answersto the eternal questions confrontingmankind"[52]

1952FranoisMauriac

France"for the deep spiritual insight and theartistic intensity with which he has in hisnovels penetrated the drama of humanlife"[53]


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1953WinstonChurchill

United Kingdom

"for his mastery of historical andbiographical description as well as forbrilliant oratory in defending exaltedhuman values"[54]

1954ErnestHemingway

United States

"for his mastery of the art of narrative,most recently demonstrated in The Old

Man and the Sea, and for the influencethat he has exerted on contemporarystyle"[55]

1955HalldrLaxness

Iceland"for his vivid epic power which hasrenewed the great narrative art ofIceland"[56]

1956 Juan RamnJimnez Spain"for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanishlanguage constitutes an example of highspirit and artistical purity"[57]

1957 Albert Camus France

"for his important literary production,which with clear-sighted earnestnessilluminates the problems of the humanconscience in our times"[58]

1958BorisPasternak

Soviet Union

"for his important achievement both incontemporary lyrical poetry and in thefield of the great Russian epictradition"[59]

1959SalvatoreQuasimodo

Italy"for his lyrical poetry, which withclassical fire expresses the tragicexperience of life in our own times"[60]

1960Saint-JohnPerse

France

"for the soaring flight and the evocativeimagery of his poetry which in a visionaryfashion reflects the conditions of ourtime"[61]

1961 Ivo Andri Yugoslavia

"for the epic force with which he hastraced themes and depicted humandestinies drawn from the history of hiscountry"[62]


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1979OdysseasElytis

Greece

"for his poetry, which, against thebackground of Greek tradition, depictswith sensuous strength and intellectualclear-sightedness modern man's strugglefor freedom and creativeness"[80]

1980CzesawMiosz

Poland

"who with uncompromising clear-sightedness voices man's exposedcondition in a world of severeconflicts"[81]

1981 Elias Canetti United Kingdom"for writings marked by a broad outlook,a wealth of ideas and artistic power"[82]

1982GabrielGarca

Mrquez

Colombia

"for his novels and short stories, in whichthe fantastic and the realistic arecombined in a richly composed world of

imagination, reflecting a continent's lifeand conflicts"[83]

1983WilliamGolding

United Kingdom

"for his novels which, with theperspicuity of realistic narrative art andthe diversity and universality of myth,illuminate the human condition in theworld of today"[84]

1984JaroslavSeifert

Czechoslovakia

"for his poetry which endowed withfreshness, and rich inventiveness providesa liberating image of the indomitablespirit and versatility of man"[85]

1985 Claude Simon France

"who in his novel combines the poet's andthe painter's creativeness with a deepenedawareness of time in the depiction of thehuman condition"[86]

1986 Wole Soyinka Nigeria"who in a wide cultural perspective andwith poetic overtones fashions the dramaof existence"[87]

1987JosephBrodsky

United States"for an all-embracing authorship, imbuedwith clarity of thought and poeticintensity"[88]


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1988NaguibMahfouz

Egypt

"who, through works rich in nuance - nowclear-sightedly realistic, now evocativelyambiguous - has formed an Arabiannarrative art that applies to allmankind"[89]

1989Camilo JosCela

Spain

"for a rich and intensive prose, whichwith restrained compassion forms achallenging vision of man'svulnerability"[90]

1990 Octavio Paz Mexico"for impassioned writing with widehorizons, characterized by sensuousintelligence and humanistic integrity"[91]

1991 NadineGordimer South Africa

"who through her magnificent epic

writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel- been of very great benefit tohumanity"[92]

1992DerekWalcott

Saint Lucia

"for a poetic oeuvre of great luminosity,sustained by a historical vision, theoutcome of a multiculturalcommitment"[93]

1993ToniMorrison

United States"who in novels characterized by visionaryforce and poetic import, gives life to an

essential aspect of American reality"[94]

1994eKenzabur

Japan

"who with poetic force creates animagined world, where life and mythcondense to form a disconcerting pictureof the human predicament today"[95]

1995SeamusHeaney

Ireland"for works of lyrical beauty and ethicaldepth, which exalt everyday miracles andthe living past"[96]


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1996WisawaSzymborska

Poland

"for poetry that with ironic precisionallows the historical and biologicalcontext to come to light in fragments ofhuman reality"[97]

1997 Dario Fo Italy

"who emulates the jesters of the MiddleAges in scourging authority andupholding the dignity of thedowntrodden"[98]

1998JosSaramago

Portugal

"who with parables sustained byimagination, compassion and ironycontinually enables us once again toapprehend an elusory reality"[99]

1999 Gnter Grass Germany"whose frolicsome black fables portray

the forgotten face of history"[100]

2000 Gao Xingjian France

"for an oeuvre of universal validity, bitterinsights and linguistic ingenuity, whichhas opened new paths for the Chinesenovel and drama"[101]

2001 V. S. Naipaul United Kingdom

"for having united perceptive narrativeand incorruptible scrutiny in works thatcompel us to see the presence ofsuppressed histories"[102]

2002 Imre Kertsz Hungary

"for writing that upholds the fragile

experience of the individual against thebarbaric arbitrariness of history"[103]

2003 J. M. Coetzee South Africa"who in innumerable guises portrays thesurprising involvement of theoutsider"[104]

2004ElfriedeJelinek

Austria

"for her musical flow of voices andcounter-voices in novels and plays thatwith extraordinary linguistic zeal revealthe absurdity of society's clichs and their

subjugating power"[105]

2005 Harold Pinter United Kingdom"who in his plays uncovers the precipiceunder everyday prattle and forces entryinto oppression's closed rooms"[106]

2006 Orhan Pamuk Turkey

"who in the quest for the melancholic soulof his native city has discovered newsymbols for the clash and interlacing ofcultures"[107]


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2007 Doris Lessing United Kingdom

"that epicist of the female experience,who with scepticism, fire and visionary

power has subjected a divided civilisationto scrutiny"[108]

2008 J. M. G. LeClzio

France

"author of new departures, poeticadventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer ofa humanity beyond and below thereigning civilization"[109]

2009 Herta Mller Germany"who, with the concentration of poetryand the frankness of prose, depicts thelandscape of the dispossessed"[110]

Documents

List of Nobel Laureates in Literatur1