1970 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1970 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Soviet-Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature."Nobel Prize in Literature 1970 nobelprize.org For political reasons he would not receive the prize until 1974. Solzhenitsyn is the fourth Russian recipient of the prize after Ivan Bunin in 1933, Boris Pasternak in 1958 and Mikhail Sholokhov in 1965.Victor Zorza, "Archive, 1970: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wins the Nobel Prize in Literature", The Guardian, 9 October 2020

Laureate

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's works grew out of Russia's narrative traditions and reflect Soviet society. His debut, Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha ("One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", 1962), and several of his later works, focus on life in the Soviet gulag camps. Solzhenitsyn's books often lack an obvious main character, moving instead between different characters at the center of the plot. This reflects a humanist view of the universality of human experience. Among his famous literary works include Rakovyi korpus ("Cancer Ward", 1966), V kruge pervom ("The First Circle", 1968), Avgust chetyrnadtsatogo ("August 1914", 1971), and Arkhipelag Gulag ("The Gulag Archipelago", 1973).Alexandr Solzhenitsyn – Facts nobelprize.orgAleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn britannica.org

Deliberations Nominations In total, the Swedish academy received 128 nominations for 77 writers. Solzhenitsyn received 9 nominations starting in 1969 before being awarded the 1970 prize. He received 6 nominations in 1970.Nomination archive – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn nobelprize.org

Nominees included were Patrick White (awarded in 1973), Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971), Heinrich Böll (awarded in 1972), Jorge Luis Borges and Tarjei Vesaas. 25 of the nominees were nominated first-time, among them Paavo Haavikko, Denis de Rougemont, Heðin Brú, Sei Itō, Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Hugo Bergmann, Alexander Lernet-Holenia, Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, Amado Yuzon, Abraham Sutzkever and Mikhail Naimy. Repeated nominees included W. H. Auden, Jorge Amado, Graham Greene, André Malraux, Alberto Moravia, Vladimir Nabokov and Simon Vestdijk. The highest number of nominations were for the Norwegian novelist and poet, Tarjei Vesaas, with 9 nominations. Two of the nominees were women: Marie Under and Victoria Ocampo. The oldest nominee was Scottish writer Compton Mackenzie (aged 87) while the youngest was Finnish author Paavo Haavikko (aged 39). Japanese author Sei Itō and Korean writer Yi Gwangsu were nominated posthumously.Nomination archive – 1970 nobelprize.org

The authors Arthur Adamov, Antonio Abad, Louise Bogan, Vera Brittain, Rudolf Carnap, Fernand Crommelynck, Christopher Dawson, John Dos Passos, Leah Goldberg, Amado V. Hernandez, Richard Hofstadter, Roman Ingarden, B. H. Liddell Hart, John O'Hara, Charles Olson, Orhan Kemal, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Alf Prøysen, Salvador Reyes Figueroa, Wilbur Daniel Steele, Elsa Triolet, and Fritz von Unruh died in 1970 without having been nominated for the prize. The Norwegian poet Tarjei Vesaas, Catalan writer Josep Carner, Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti died months before the announcement.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Jorge Amado (1912–2001)novel, short story2Jerzy Andrzejewski (1909–1983)novel, short storyTimo Tiusanen (1936–1985)3Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973)poetry, essays, screenplay4Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985)novel, drama, essays5Eugen Barbu (1923–1993)novel, short story, screenplayAlexandru Rosetti (1895–1990)6Agustí Bartra (1908–1982)poetry, songwriting, translationManuel Durán (1925–2020) 7Hugo Bergmann (1883–1975)philosophyAndré Neher (1914–1988)8Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)poetry, essays, translation, short story9Heinrich Böll (1917–1985)novel, short story10Heðin Brú (1901–1987)novel, short story, translationÓlavur Michelsen (1933–1978)11Josep Carner (1884–1970)poetry, drama, translation12Aimé Césaire (1913–2008)poetry, drama, essaysArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)13André Chamson (1900–1983)novel, essays14Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca (1914–2008)poetry15Denis de Rougemont (1906–1985)philosophy, essaysJean-Théodore Brutsch (1898–1973)16Youssef Durra al-Haddad (1913–1979)essays, theologyFouad Boustany (1904–1994)17Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)drama, novel, short story, essays18Rabbe Enckell (1903–1974)short story, poetry19Salvador Espriu (1913–1985)drama, novel, poetry20José Maria Ferreira de Castro (1898–1978)novelAntônio Olinto (1919–2009)21Max Frisch (1911–1991)novel, dramaJohn Stephenson Spink (1909–1985)22Robert Ganzo (1898–1995)poetry, translation, history, essays, drama, biographyAndré Lebois (1915–1978)23Günter Grass (1927–2015)novel, drama, poetry, essaysManfred Windfuhr (1930–)24Graham Greene (1904–1991)novel, short story, autobiography, essays25Jorge Guillén (1893–1984)poetry, literary criticismManuel Durán (1925–2020)26Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008)poetry, drama, essaysTimo Tiusanen (1936–1985)27William Heinesen (1900–1991)poetry, short story, novelHarald Noreng (1913–2006)28Vladimír Holan (1905–1980)poetry, essaysAdolf Hoffmeister (1902–1973)29Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994)drama, essaysLouis Alexander MacKay (1901–1982)30Tatsuzō Ishikawa (1905–1985)novel, essaysKojiro Serizawa (1897–1993)31Sei Itō (1905–1969)(posthumous nomination)poetry, essays, novel, short story, translation32Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976)novel, short story 33Erich Kästner (1899–1974)poetry, screenplay, autobiographyGerd Høst-Heyerdahl (1915–2007)34Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981)poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays35Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014)novel, short story, essays, dramaJohannes Edfelt (1904–1997)36Alexander Lernet-Holenia (1897–1976)poetry, novel, drama, screenplayHilde Spiel (1911–1990)37Saunders Lewis (1893–1985)poetry, essays, history, literary criticismJohn Ellis Caerwyn Williams (1912–1999)38Lin Yutang (1895–1976)novel, philosophy, essays, translationExecutive Committee of the Chinese Center – International PEN39Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972)novel, short story, drama, poetry, history, biography, essays, literary criticism, memoirNorman Jeffares (1920–2005)40Hugh MacLennan (1907–1990)novel, essaysLawrence Lande (1906–1998)41Harold Macmillan (1894–1986)history, essays, memoirCarl Becker (1925–1973)42André Malraux (1901–1976)novel, essays, literary criticism43Harry Martinson (1904–1978)poetry, novel, drama, essays44László Mécs (1895–1978)poetry, essaysWatson Kirkconnell (1895–1977)45Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973)novel, drama, historyHarald Noreng (1913–2006)46Eugenio Montale (1896–1981)poetry, translationUberto Limentani (1913–1989)47Alberto Moravia (1907–1990)novel, literary criticism, essays, dramaJacques Robichez (1914–1999)48Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir Bernard Tervoort (1920–2006)49Mikhail Naimy (1889–1988)poetry, drama, short story, novel, autobiography, literary criticismToufic Fahd (1923–2009)50Pablo Neruda (1904–1973)poetry51Victoria Ocampo (1890–1979)essays, literary criticism, biographyMiguel Alfredo Olivera (1922–2008)52Emilio Oribe (1893–1975)poetry, essays, philosophySarah Bollo (1904–1987)53Germán Pardo García (1902–1991)poetryKurt Leopold Levy (1917–2000)54Pandelis Prevelakis (1909–1986)novel, poetry, drama, essaysKariophilēs Mētsakēs (1932–2013)55Evaristo Ribera Chevremont (1890–1976)poetryErnesto Juan Fonfrías (1909–1990)56Hans Ruin (1891–1980)philosophyArthur Arnholtz (1901–1973)57Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001)poetry, essaysArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)58Georges Simenon (1903–1989)novel, short story, memoirRichard Alewyn (1902–1979)59Claude Simon (1913–2005)novel, essays60Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980)novel, essaysSylvère Monod (1921–2006)61Aleksandr Solzjenitsyn (1918–2008)novel, short story, essays62Abraham Sutzkever (1913–2010)poetryJoseph Leftwich (1892–1984)63Friedebert Tuglas (1886–1971)short story, literary criticismLassi Nummi (1928–2012)64Marie Under (1883–1980)poetry65Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970)poetry, essays, literary criticismMarco Scovazzi (1923–1971)66Lluís Valeri i Sahís (1891–1971)poetryAntoni Griera y Gaja (1887–1973)67Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970)poetry, novel68Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971)novel, poetry, essays, translation69Gerard Walschap (1898–1989)novel, drama, essays70Frank Waters (1902–1995)novel, essays, memoir, biographyThomas Lyon (1937–)71Sándor Weöres (1913–1989)poetry, translationÁron Kibédi Varga (1930–2018)72Patrick White (1912–1990)novel, short story, drama, poetry, autobiography73Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)drama, novel, short story74Edmund Wilson (1895–1972)essays, literary criticism, short story, dramaRobert Brustein (1927–2023)75Yi Gwangsu (1892–1950)(posthumous nomination)novel, short storyBaek Cheol (1908–1985)76Amado Yuzon (1906–1979)poetry, essays77Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977)drama, screenplayHerbert Penzl (1910–1995)

Prize decision Alexander Solzhenitsyn had been considered for the prize the previous year. In 1970, five of the six members of the Swedish Academy's Nobel committee supported the proposal that Solzhenitsyn should be awarded the prize. Committee member Artur Lundkvist however opposed a prize to Solzhenitsyn. Lundkvist questioned the artistic value of Solzhenitsyn's work and argued that the Nobel prize in literature should not be a political prize. Lundkvist proposed that the prize for 1970 should be awarded to Pablo Neruda, with Patrick White as his second proposal. Lundkvist argued that "If it is at all possible to compare a poet and an epic writer (...) it appears obvious to me that Solzhenitzyn's work from an artistic perspective can not be mentioned next to Neruda's. Neither does his work stand such a comparison to Patrick White's."

All the other members of the Nobel committee agreed on Solzhenitsyn as the first proposal. Committee member Lars Gyllensten concluded that Solzhenitsyn "with a quantitatively rather small output appears as an impressively richly equipped, complicated and independently conscious author with a rare versatile material and unusual psychological ability of portrayal." The committee had also received several proposals from outside the Swedish Academy that Solzhenitsyn should be awarded the Nobel prize in literature, one such proposal came from the 1952 laureate Francois Mauriac and a number of other prominent French authors and cultural persons. While a majority of the members of the Nobel committee acknowledged that Solzhenitsyn was worthy of the prize, the committee was worried about how the authorities in the Soviet Union would react if Solzhenitsyn was awarded. For this reason the committee presented an alternative proposal with Patrick White and W.H. Auden as the main candidates weeks before the final vote, should it be known that Solzhenitsyn's life was in danger. On the final vote on 8 October 1970 Solzhenitsyn got the majority of the delivered votes from the members of the Swedish Academy.

Another shortlisted candidate for the 1970 prize was André Malraux, who was listed as the second proposal after Solzhentizyn by Nobel committee members Eyvind Johnson and Anders Österling. In a report dated 27 May 1970, Karl Ragnar Gierow said that Malraux was "undeniably worthy of the Nobel prize", if one could overlook what Malraux had achieved and not achieved in recent years. But Gierow argued that Malraux's best work was too far back in time, and the fact that Malraux now was a member of the French government further made it difficult for the Swedish Academy to award him. Gierow also noted that the Nobel committee's dismissal of Graham Greene's long standing candidacy in 1970 was likely to mean that the committee would not further consider Greene as a candidate for the prize, unless Greene returned with works of the same standard as his most acclaimed works of the past.

Reaction and controversy