Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature

On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes. As described in Nobel's will one part was dedicated to “the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”. Learn more about the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1901 to 2012. An article from http://www.nobelprize.org

	Number of Nobel Prizes in Literature 105 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded since 1901. It was not awarded on seven occasions: in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943. Why were the Literature Prizes not awarded in those years? In the statutes of the Nobel Foundation it says: "If none of the works under consideration is found to be of the importance indicated in the first paragraph, the prize money shall be reserved until the following year. If, even then, the prize cannot be awarded, the amount shall be added to the Foundation's restricted funds." During World War I and II, fewer Nobel Prizes were awarded.
	Number of shared and unshared Nobel Prizes in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature has been shared between two individuals on four occasions only. This is a more common phenomenon within the other Nobel Prize categories. 1904 - Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray 1917 - Karl Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan 1966 - Shmuel Agnon, Nelly Sachs 1974 - Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
	Number of Nobel Laureates* in Literature 109 individuals have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1901-2012. List of all Nobel Literature Laureates
	Average age The average age of all Literature Laureates between 1901 and 2011 is 64 years. More information about Literature Laureates and age
	Youngest Literature Laureate To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book, who was 42 years old when he was awarded the Literature Prize in 1907.
	Oldest Literature Laureate The oldest Nobel Laureate in Literature to date is Doris Lessing, who was 88 years old when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.
	Female Nobel Laureates in Literature 12 women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was the first woman to be awarded in 1909. Selma Lagerlöf was awarded five years before she was elected to the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Prize awarding institution responsible for selecting Nobel Laureates in Literature. 1909 - Selma Lagerlöf 1926 - Grazia Deledda 1928 - Sigrid Undset 1938 - Pearl Buck 1945 - Gabriela Mistral 1966 - Nelly Sachs 1991 - Nadine Gordimer 1993 - Toni Morrison 1996 - Wislawa Szymborska 2004 - Elfriede Jelinek 2007 - Doris Lessing 2009 - Herta Müller List of all 43 female Nobel Laureates
	Two people have declined the Nobel Prize in Literature Boris Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature, "Accepted first, later caused by the authorities of his country (Soviet Union) to decline the Prize". Jean Paul Sartre, the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature, declined the prize because he had consistently declined all official honours.
	Multiple Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature No one has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once. Multiple Nobel Laureates in other Nobel Prize categories
	Posthumous Nobel Prizes in Literature In 1931, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded posthumously to Erik Axel Karlfeldt. From 1974, the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that a Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless death has occurred after the announcement of the Nobel Prize. Dag Hammarskjöld was also awarded a posthumous prize, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.
	Awarded members of the Swedish Academy One particular problem faced during the nomination and selection process for the Nobel Prize in Literature is how to deal with candidates who are members of the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Prize awarding institution responsible for selecting Nobel Laureates in Literature. All six Swedish Nobel Laureates in Literature were members of the Swedish Academy. In virtually every case it appears that they have declined nomination and a routine has been established, were they are not subjected to the appraisal of either an expert or the Nobel Committee for Literature. Read more about the process of nomination and selection of Literature Laureates Selma Lagerlöf became a member of the Swedish Academy in 1914 after she was awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature Verner von Heidenstam (1916 Nobel Prize in Literature), was a member of the Swedish Academy 1912-1940. Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1931 Nobel Prize in Literature), was a member of the Swedish Academy 1904-1931. Karlfeldt was awarded posthumously. Pär Lagerkvist (1951 Nobel Prize in Literature), was a member of the Swedish Academy 1949-1974. Harry Martinson and Eyvind Johnson (1974 Nobel Prize in Literature), were members of the Swedish Academy - Martinson 1949-1978 and Johnson 1957-1976.
	Number of Nobel Laureates in Literature sorted in languages Alfred Nobel had an international horizon in his will, though it rejected any consideration for the nationality of the candidates: the most worthy should be chosen, "whether he be Scandinavian or not". The problem of surveying the literature of the whole world was, however, overwhelming and for a long time the Swedish Academy - who selects the Nobel Laureates - was, with justice, to be criticized for making the award a European affair. In 1984, however, the permanent sectretary of the Swedish Academy declared that attention to non-European writers was gradually increasing in the Academy; attempts were being made "to achieve a global distribution". The 109 Nobel Laureates in Literature from 1901 to 2012 have been writing/writes in the following languages: English 26 Bengali 1 French 13 Chinese 2 German 13 Czech 1 Spanish 11 Finnish 1 Swedish 7 Hebrew 1 Italian 6 Hungarian 1 Russian 5 Icelandic 1 Polish 4 Occitan 1 Norwegian 3 Portuguese 1 Danish 3 Serbo-Croatian 1 Greek 2 Turkish 1 Japanese 2 Yiddish 1 Arabic 1     Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Prize in Literature 1913) wrote in Bengali and English, Samuel Beckett (Nobel Prize in Literature 1969) wrote in French and English and Joseph Brodsky (Nobel Prize in Literature 1987) wrote poetry in Russian and prose in English. These three Nobel Laureates have been sorted under Bengali, French and Russian, respectively.
	Literature Laureates with pen-names Sully Prudhomme (pen-name of René François Armand Prudhomme), Anatole France (pen-name of Jacques Anatole Thibault), Wladyslaw Reymont (pen-name of Rejment), Grazia Deledda (pen-name of Grazia Madesani, née Deledda), Pearl Buck (pen-name of Pearl Walsh, née Sydenstricker), Gabriela Mistral (pen-name of Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga), Saint-John Perse (pen-name of Alexis Léger), Giorgos Seferis (pen-name of Giorgos Seferiadis), Pablo Neruda (pen-name of Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto), Odysseus Elytis (pen-name of Odysseus Alepoudhelis), Mo Yan (pen-name of Guan Moye).
	Surprise Literature Laureate? Many believe that Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but he was actually awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature. In fact, Churchill was nominated both for the Literature Prize and for the Nobel Peace Prize. Explore the nomination database for the Nobel Prize in Literature Explore the nomination database for the Nobel Peace Prize
	Awarded for a particular literary work While the Nobel Prize in Literature is for a writer's life work, there are nine Literature Laureates for whom the Swedish Academy singled out a specific work for particular recognition. Mikhail Sholokhov in 1965 "for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people" Ernest Hemingway in 1954 "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style" Roger Martin Du Gard in 1937 "for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les Thibault" John Galsworthy in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga" Thomas Mann in 1929 "principally for his great novel, Buddenbrooks, which has won steadily increased recognition as one of the classic works of contemporary literature" Wladyslaw Reymont in 1924 "for his great national epic, The Peasants" Knut Hamsun in 1920 "for his monumental work, Growth of the Soil" Carl Spitteler in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring" Theodor Mommsen in 1902 "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, A history of Rome"
	Nominations – a well kept secret The nominations and the opinions written by the members of the Nobel Committee in Literature each year are kept secret for 50 years. Sully Prudhomme, Rudolf Eucken, Paul Heyse, Rabindranath Tagore, Sinclair Lewis, Theodor Mommsen, Luigi Pirandello, Pearl Buck, Bertrand Russell and William Faulkner are some of the authors who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature after being nominated in one year only. Number of nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature each year (1901-1950)
	Who did the Nobel Laureates in Literature nominate? The Swedish author August Strindberg (1849-1912) was nominated once in 1911 by Nathan Söderblom (but the nomination arrived too late and was retrieved). The Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was nominated for 12 years for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In 1929, the Nobel Committee for Medicine engaged an expert who came to the conclusion that a further investigation in Freud was not necessary, since Freud's work was of no proven scientific value. What is less known, perhaps, is that Romain Rolland, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1915, and an acquaintance of Freud, nominated him for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1936. See a list of the nominations made by Nobel Laureates in Literature
	*Why are the individuals and organisations awarded a Nobel Prize called Nobel Laureates? The word "Laureate" refers to being signified by the laurel wreath. In Greek mythology, the god Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head. A laurel wreath is a circular crown made of branches and leaves of the bay laurel (In latin: Laurus nobilis). In Ancient Greece, laurel wreaths were awarded to victors as a sign of honour - both in athletic competitions and in poetic meets.