1961 Nobel Prize in Literature
The 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) "for the epic force with which he has traced themes and depicted human destinies drawn from the history of his country."[1][2] He is the first and only Serbian-speaking recipient of the literature prize.[2]
1961 Nobel Prize in Literature | |
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Ivo Andrić | |
Date |
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Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
Presented by | Swedish Academy |
Hosted by | Anders Österling |
First awarded | 1901 |
Website | Official website |
Laureate
Ivo Andrić began by writing poetry, and philosophers like Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Kafka and Goethe had an impact on his philosophical views. But his preferred literary form would be the historical epic. The fates of people are illuminated against a historical, cultural, and religious backdrop in Andrić's writings, such as his monumental novel Na Drini ćuprija ("The Bridge on the Drina", 1945). His stories show both immense love for individuals and brutality and violence. His writing is clear and full of information, and his stories are filled with insightful psychological observations. His other well-known literary oeuvres include Travnička hronika ("Travnika Chronicle", 1945) and Prokleta avlija ("The Damned Yard", 1954).[3][4]
Deliberations
Nominations
Andrić earned ten nominations on four occasions. He was first nominated in 1958 by The Yugoslavian Author's Society. On 1961, he was recommended by four nominators from Elizabeth Hill, Lennart Breitholtz, Johannes Edfelt and the aforementioned society which led to his awarding.[5]
In total, the Swedish Academy's Nobel Committee received 93 nominations for 56 authors such as Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, John Steinbeck (awarded in 1962), André Malraux, Graham Greene, Georges Simenon, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Robert Frost and Rómulo Gallegos. Fifteen of the nominees were nominated for the first time, among them Yasunari Kawabata (awarded in 1968), Gaston Bachelard, Cora Sandel, Jean Anouilh, Simone de Beauvoir, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lawrence Durrell, W. H. Auden and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. There were five female nominees namely Giulia Scappino Mureno, Gertrud von le Fort, Karen Blixen, Cora Sandel and Simone de Beauvoir.[6]
The authors Jacques Stephen Alexis, Lucian Blaga, Joanna Cannan, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Mazo de la Roche, Hilda Doolittle, Frantz Fanon, Olga Forsh, Leonhard Frank, Simon Gantillon, Dashiell Hammett, Émile Henriot, George S. Kaufman, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Oliver Onions, Jessie Redmon Fauset, Mihail Sadoveanu, Peyami Safa, Frédéric-Louis Sauser (known as Blaise Cendrars), Clark Ashton Smith, Antanas Škėma, Dorothy Thompson and Maria Valtorta died in 1961 without having been nominated for the prize.
No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
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1 | Ivo Andrić (1892–1975) | Yugoslavia | novel, short story, poetry |
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2 | Jean Anouilh (1910–1987) | France | drama, screenplay, translation |
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3 | Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) | United Kingdom United States |
poetry, essays, screenplay | Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992) |
4 | Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) | France | philosophy | Georges May (1920–2003) |
5 | Karen Blixen (1885–1962) | Denmark | novel, short story, memoir |
|
6 | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) | United Kingdom | history, essays, literary criticism, poetry | M. A. Oxon (?) |
7 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) | Germany | novel, short story |
|
8 | Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) | France | novel, drama, memoir, philosophy, essays, short story | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
9 | Michel de Ghelderode (1898–1962) | Belgium | drama, short story, essays | Eric Bentley (1916–2020) |
10 | Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) | France | novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism | Frederick Charles Green (1891–1964) |
11 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays | Hjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961) |
12 | Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) | Switzerland | drama, novel, short story, essays |
|
13 | Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) | Norway | novel, short story, essays | Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975) |
14 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism |
|
15 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) | United States | poetry, drama |
|
16 | Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969) | Venezuela | novel, short story |
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17 | Armand Godoy (1880–1964) | Cuba France |
poetry, translation | Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876–1973) |
18 | Julien Gracq (1910–2007) | France | novel, poetry, drama, literary criticism | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
19 | Robert Graves (1895–1985) | United Kingdom | history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
20 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays |
|
21 | Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) | Iceland | novel, short story, poetry | Stellan Arvidson (1902–1997) |
22 | Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972) | United Kingdom | novel, short story |
|
23 | Adriaan Roland Holst (1888–1976) | Netherlands | poetry |
|
24 | Taha Hussein (1889–1973) | Egypt | novel, short story, poetry, translation |
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25 | Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays, poetry, screenplay, drama, philosophy | Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) |
26 | Pierre Jean Jouve (1887–1976) | France | poetry, novel, literary criticism | Francis James Carmody (1907–1982) |
27 | Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) | Germany | philosophy, novel, memoir | August Closs (1898–1990) |
28 | Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) | Japan | novel, short story | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
29 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia Crotia |
poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
30 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Claude Digeon (1920–2008) |
31 | William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays | Karel van het Reve (1921–1999) |
32 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history |
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33 | Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) | Italy | poetry, translation | Michele De Filippis (1891–1975) |
34 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama | Anders Wedberg (1913–1978) |
35 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) | Chile | poetry | Francis James Carmody (1907–1982) |
36 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) | Japan | poetry, literary criticism | The Japanese Authors' Union |
37 | Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) | Ireland | drama, memoir |
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38 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) | India | philosophy, essays, law | Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) |
39 | Cora Sandel (1880–1974) | Norway | novel, short story | Harald Ofstad (1920–1994) |
40 | Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965) | Denmark Norway |
novel, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
41 | Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) | France | philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay |
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42 | Giulia Scappino Mureno (1902–1967) | Italy | poetry | Alfredo Galletti (1872–1962) |
43 | Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971) | Greece | poetry, memoir, essays | Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965) |
44 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) | Soviet Union | novel | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
45 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy | novel, short story, essays, drama | Elias Wessén (1889–1981) |
46 | Georges Simenon (1903–1989) | Belgium | novel, short story, memoir |
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47 | Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) | United Kingdom | novel, essays |
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48 | John Steinbeck (1902–1968) | United States | novel, short story, screenplay |
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49 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | The Japanese Authors' Union |
50 | John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, philology, essays, literary criticism | Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) |
51 | Miguel Torga (1907–1995) | Portugal | poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiography | Hernâni Antonio Cidade (1887–1975) |
52 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel |
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53 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | Jan Kamerbeek Jr. (1905–1977) |
54 | Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) | Germany | novel, short story, essays, poetry | Friedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966) |
55 | Arthur David Waley (1889–1966) | United Kingdom | translation, essays | Edwin G. Pulleyblank (1922–2013) |
56 | Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story, drama | Serge Konovalov (1899–1982) |
References
- The Nobel Prize in Literature 1961 nobelprize.org
- Werner Wiskari (27 October 1961). "Yugoslav Authors Wins Nobel Prize; Dr. Ivo Andric Honored for 'Epic Force' of His Work". New York Times. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- Ivo Andric – Facts nobelprize.org
- "Ivo Andrić | Serbo-Croatian author". britannica.com.
- Nomination archive – Ivo Andric nobelprize.org
- Nomination archive – Literature 1961 nobelprize.org
External links
- The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 1961 nobelprize.org