The 1901 Nobel Prize in Literature was the first awarded Nobel Prize in Literature. It was awarded to the French poet Sully Prudhomme (1839–1907) "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1901 nobelprize.org
Laureate
Sully Prudhomme belonged to a school of poets that wanted to write in a classic and formally elegant style. His poetry combined formal perfection with an interest in science and philosophy. According to the Swedish Academy, his elevated poetry fit in Alfred Nobel's formulation about works "in an ideal direction".Sully Prudhomme nobelprize.org
Deliberations Nominations
Sully Prudhomme was nominated for the prize by 17 members of the Académie Française, of which Sully Prudhomme himself was a member. In total the Nobel committee received 37 nominations for 26 writers including Frédéric Mistral (five nominations) and Henryk Sienkiewicz (three nominations) who were subsequently both awarded the prize, and the only woman nominated, Malwida von Meysenburg.Nomination archive nobelprize.org The first name on their list of candidates was Émile Zola, but the campaign from the Académie Française proved to be successful and the Swedish Academy chose to award Sully Prudhomme.Helmer Lång Hundra nobelpris i litteratur 1901-2001 Bokförlag Symposion 2001, p. 24 (in Swedish)
The notable authors R. D. Blackmore, Anne Beale, Victoire Léodile Béra, Stephen Crane, Ernest Dowson, José Maria de Eça de Queiroz, Carit Etlar, Naim Frashëri, Mary Kingsley, Max Müller, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigbjørn Obstfelder, Pyotr Lavrov, John Ruskin, Henry Sidgwick, Charles Dudley Warner, Oscar Wilde, Vladimir Solovyov and Gheorghe Dem Teodorescu all died in 1900, making them ineligible for the 1901 nominations. The nominated French theologian Louis Sabatier died months before the announcement, and authors Leopoldo Alas, Víctor Balaguer i Cirera, Walter Besant, Ada Christen, Ramón de Campoamor, Luis Mariano de Larra, Kate Greenaway, Julien Leclercq, William Cosmo Monkhouse, Frederic W. H. Myers, Johanna Spyri, Grigore Sturdza, Maurice Thompson, Vasile Alexandrescu Urechia, Brooke Foss Westcott and Charlotte Mary Yonge died in 1901 without having been nominated for the prize.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Alexander Baumgartner (1841–1910)poetry, historyKnud Karl Krogh-Tonning (1842–1911)2Charles Borgeaud (1861–1940)history, law3João da Câmara (1852–1908)drama, essaysJoaquim José Coelho de Carvalho (1855–1934)4Louis Ducros (1846–1927)literary criticism, historyMichel Clerc (1857–1931)5Paul Duproix (1851–1912)pedagogyÉmile Redard (1848–1913)6Carl Gustaf Estlander (1834–1910)(Finland)history, essayJohan Gustaf Frosterus (1826–1901)7Antonio Fogazzaro (1842–1911)novel, poetry, short storyHans Forssell (1843–1901)8Julius Gersdorff (1849–1907)poetry, songwritingCarl Heinrich Döring (1834–1916)9Oscar le Pin (–)dramaP. L. Bonnaviat (–)10Ossip Lourié (1868–1955)history, philosophy, essaysKristian Birch-Reichenwald Aars (1868–1917)11Ferenc Kemény (1860–1944)()essaysImre Rudolf Pauer (1845–1930)12Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)poetry, philology13Gaspar Núñez de Arce (1832–1903)poetry, drama, lawMariano Catalina Cobo (1842–1913)14Gaston Paris (1839–1903)history, poetry, essaysFredrik Wulff (1845–1930)15Sully Prudhomme (1839–1907)poetry, essay16Charles Renouvier (1815–1903)philosophyAntoine Benoist (1846–1922)17Edmond Rostand (1868–1918)poetry, drama18Auguste Sabatier (1839–1901)history, essays, theologyGabriel Monod (1844–1912)19Paul Sabatier (1858–1928)history, theology, biographyCarl Bildt (1850–1931)20Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916)()novel21Giacomo Stampa (?)essaysÁrmin Vámbéry (1832–1913)22René Vallery-Radot (1853–1933) essays, biography23Malwida von Meysenbug (1816–1903)memoirsGabriel Monod (1844–1912)24Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol (1847–1920)history, philosophy, essaysIon Găvănescu (1859–1949)25Émile Zola (1840–1902)novel, drama, short storyMarcellin Berthelot (1827–1907)
Prize decision Of the 25 nominated candidates, the Nobel committee dismissed six inferior writers as out of the question for the award. These were Julius Gersdorff, Oscar le Pin, Franz Kemény, Giacomo Stampa, Ossip Lourié and Malwida von Meysenburg. The remaining candidates were acknowledged for having written some excellent works, but most of them were also ruled out for various reasons. These included Émile Zola who were dismissed on the ground that his works was not considered to be of the "ideal direction" outlined in Alfred Nobel's will.
The Nobel committee found the French poets Frédéric Mistral (subsequently awarded in 1904) and Sully Prudhomme, Polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz (awarded in 1905) and Italian writer Antonio Fogazzaro as worthy recipients of the award, with a special recommendation of Mistral and Prudhomme in their report to the Swedish Academy. The Nobel committee argued that the two poets were equally prominent, but that Prudhomme "more than most others" represented an "ideal direction" in literature, and that the French Academy's recommendation of Sully Prudhomme should be decisive in awarding him the prize.Gustav Källstrand Andens olympiska spel. Nobelprisets historia Fri Tanke 2021, p. 184
On 14 November 1901 the Swedish Academy decided that that year's Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to Sully Prudhomme "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect.".
Reactions The Swedish Academy's decision to award Sully Prudhomme the first Nobel Prize in Literature was intensely covered by the French newspaper Le Figaro, who appeared to acknowledge the literature prize as the most interesting and important of the five Nobel prizes. On the day the prizes were awarded Le Figaro dedicated two front-page articles on Sully Prudhomme, one report on the prize itself and one interview with the poet, followed by another lengthy front-page article the next day presenting all the laureates, and a second article describing the idea of the Nobel prize.
Elsewhere, particularly Swedish reactions were heavily critical and caused a domestic scandal. The choice of Sully Prudhomme was interpreted as a politeness towards the Académie Française, model to the Swedish Academy. Many believed that Lev Tolstoy should have been awarded the first Nobel Prize in literature. The Swedish author August Strindberg angrily reacted saying that Prudhomme is "hardly a poet although he writes in verse", and that it was scandalous that he was awarded the prize just because he was a member of an academy that the Swedish Academy wanted to impress. The leading representatives of the contemporary Swedish cultural elite including August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Verner von Heidenstam, Oscar Levertin, Bruno Liljefors, Anders Zorn and Albert Engström protested against the Academy and sent a letter to Tolstoy saying he was the most worthy recipient of the prize and that the Swedish Academy did not represent the majority of Swedish cultural persons.
Critical reactions also came from the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung who described Prudhomme as a poet who was respected but not read. An English newspaper said that Sully Prudhomme was a second rate poet who had not achieved anything in many years. Many said Tolstoy was the superior candidate and should have been awarded the prize. The Swedish Academy defended themselves from the criticism by saying that Tolstoy had not been nominated for the prize, and could thus not be awarded.Helmer Lång Hundra nobelpris i litteratur 1901-2001 Bokförlag Symposion 2001, p. 23-24 (in Swedish)Gustav Källstrand Andens olympiska spel. Nobelprisets historia Fri Tanke 2021, p. 185
Notes
References
External links Award ceremony speech by C.D. af Wirsén nobelprize.org