The 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature was the third prestigious literary prize based upon Alfred Nobel's will. It was awarded to the Norwegian poet and politician Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910) "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit." The prize was announced in October 8, 1903 and was given in December 10, 1903 at Stockholm.The Nobel Prize in Literature 1903 nobelprize.org

Laureate

Bjørnson was a Norwegian multifaceted literary person who became one of the original members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, that awards the Nobel Peace Prize, where he sat from 1901 to 1906.The Norwegian Nobel Committee Since 1901 nobelprize.org He wrote poetry, drama and lyrical poetry. He worked for periods as theater director in both Bergen and Oslo, and he was active both politically and as a journalist. In his early works he depicted peasant life in the Norwegian countryside. This national romanticism was also found in his poetry throughout his career, even if he also wrote both realistic and symbolic dramas. Bjørnson's musical version of the poem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" became Norway's national anthem. He is also considered to be one of the four great Norwegian writers, alongside Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland.

Deliberations Nominations The Swedish Academy received four nominations – two nominations each in 1902 and 1903 – for Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson before getting awarded.

In total, the Nobel Committee received 43 nominations for 25 writers in 1903, including repeated nominations for the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (four nominations) and Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (one nomination), and with new nominations for the English writers Algernon Charles Swinburne and Rudyard Kipling (one nominations each). Kipling would later be awarded in 1907.Nomination archive – 1903 nobelprize.org French writer Anatole France and Fredrik Wulff were the first nominators to nominate a collective group of writers purposely for a shared prize. France nominated Tolstoy, Brandes, and Maeterlinck in one nomination,Nomination archive nobelprize.org whereas Wulff nominated Paris and Mistral together.Nomination archive nobelprize.org

The authors Ada Ellen Bayly, Nicolaas Beets, Eugenio María de Hostos, Girolamo de Rada, Frederic Farrar, George Gissing, William Ernest Henley, Ernest Legouvé, Vicente Fidel López, Evgeny Markov, Mary Anne Sadlier, Joseph Henry Shorthouse, Joseph Skipsey, Carl Snoilsky, Richard Henry Stoddard, Aleksandr Sukhovo-Kobylin, Wilhelm von Polenz, Sydir Vorobkevych, Otto Weininger, Josefina Wettergrund died in 1903 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, history Knud Karl Krogh-Tonning (1842–1911)2Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910)poetry, novel, drama, short story3Georg Brandes (1842–1927)literary criticism, essays4Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907)poetry, literary criticism, biography, essaysVittorio Puntoni (1859–1926)5François Coppée (1842–1908)poetry, novel, short story, dramaSully Prudhomme (1839–1907)6Robert Langton Douglas (1864–1951)history, essaysThomas Hodgkin (1831–1913)7José Echegaray Eizaguirre (1832–1916)dramaDaniel de Cortázar Larrubia (1844–1927)8Iwan Gilkin (1858–1924)poetry9Carl Friedrich Glasenapp (1847–1915)biography10Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)dramaLorentz Dietrichson (1834–1917)11Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)short story, novel, poetryEdwin Arnold (1832–1904)12Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)drama, poetry, essaysAnatole France (1844–1924)13Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo (1856–1912) history, philosophy, philology, poetry, translation, literary criticism14George Meredith (1828–1909)novel, poetryNobel Prize Committee of the Society of Authors 15Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)poetry, philology16Lewis Morris (1833–1907)poetry, songwriting, essays17Gaspar Núñez de Arce (1832–1903)poetry, drama, law18Gaston Paris (1839–1903)history, poetry, essays Fredrik Wulff (1845–1930)19Paul Sabatier (1858–1928)history, theology, biographyCarl Bildt (1850–1931)20Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916)()novel Hans Hildebrand (1842–1913)21Albert Sorel (1842–1906)history, essaysAlbert Vandal (1853–1910)22Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)poetry, drama, literary criticism, novelNobel Prize Committee of the Society of Authors 23Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)novel, short story, drama, poetry24Charles Wagner (1852–1918) theology, philosophyGabriel Jean Séailles (1852–1922)

Prize decision The Nobel committee proposed that the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to the Norwegian author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. His countryman Henrik Ibsen was also considered as a favoured candidate. A shared prize to Bjørnson and Ibsen was proposed but rejected by the committee. Ibsen was regarded as "too old and burn-out", while Bjørnson was considered to still be "in full vigour". The committee said in their report to the Swedish Academy that Bjørnson's "ingenious and world-famous poetry, which has deep roots in nature and folk life, but also in his own strong convictions, combines ethical and poetic soundness; so the Nobel Committee has deemed it appropriate to propose to the Academy to pay tribute to his bright genius by awarding him the Nobel Prize unstruck."

In their report the Nobel committee also mentioned the subsequently awarded authors, Italian Giosuè Carducci, Spanish José Echegaray, Polish Henryk Sienkiewicz and French Frédéric Mistral as worthy candidates for the prize. Other writers considered but rejected for the 1903 prize included Belgian Maurice Maeterlinck (awarded in 1911), Danish Georg Brandes, English Algernon Charles Swinburne and Russian Leo Tolstoy. The French historian Albert Sorel was praised as a worthy candidate for the prize, but was ruled out as the committee found it inappropriate to award an historian for a second year in succession. On the candidacy of Rudyard Kipling, who was eventually awarded the prize in 1907, the committee chose to await works "of greater maturity, purer beauty, and a less hurried manner" by the young writer still only in his thirties.

On rumours of a shared prize to Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnson told Norwegian reporters that he would refuse a shared prize. While the Nobel committee had rejected the proposal of a shared prize to them, thinking it would likely be misunderstood as two distinguished authors being worthy of only half a prize, the committee took notice of Bjørnson's statement and, on the event that Bjørnson should decline the award, recommended that the prize alternatively should be awarded to Frédéric Mistral (who was awarded the following year).

References

External links Award ceremony speech by C.D. af Wirsén nobelprize.org