The 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1909 nobelprize.org She became the first woman and first Swede to be awarded the prize.

Laureate

Selma Lagerlöf's authorship is deeply rooted in folk tales, legends, and stories from her home district in Värmland County, Sweden. Her début novel, Gösta Berling's Saga (1891), broke away from the then-prevailing realism and naturalism and is characterized by a vivid imagination. Even so, her works provide realistic depictions of people's circumstances, ideas, and social lives during the 19th-century religious revival. Lagerlöf wrote in prose and her stories characterized by a captivating descriptive power and their language by purity and clarity.Selma Lagerlöf – Facts nobelprize.org Among her significant novels include Jerusalem (1901–02), Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ("The Wonderful Adventures of Nil", 1907), Körkarlen ("Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!", 1912), and The Ring of the Löwenskölds (1925–28).Selma Lagerlöf britannica.com

In 1914, Lagerlöf became a member of the Swedish Academy, the first woman to be so honored. She nominated Georg Brandes for the 1920 and 1922 Nobel prize.

Deliberations Nominations Selma Lagerlöf received 28 nominations since 1904. Her highest number of nominations (11 nominations) were for the 1909 prize with which she was awarded eventually.Nomination archive – Selma Lagerlöf nobelprize.org In total, the Nobel committee received 38 nominations for 21 writers including Angelo de Gubernatis, Maurice Maeterlinck (awarded in 1911), Iwan Gilkin, and Jaroslav Vrchlický. Seven of the nominees were nominated for the first time including Ernest Lavisse, Verner von Heidenstam (awarded in 1916), Martin Greif, and Émile Verhaeren.Nomination archive – 1909 nobelprize.org

The authors Gustaf af Geijerstam, Innokenty Annensky, Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, Rosa Nouchette Carey, Euclides da Cunha, John Davidson, Amalia Domingo Soler, George Manville Fenn, Clyde Fitch, Jacob Gordin, Sarah Orne Jewett, Cesare Lombroso, Luis Alfredo Martínez, Clorinda Matto de Turner, Catulle Mendès, Alfredo Oriani, Signe Rink, John Millington Synge, Renée Vivien, Rudolf von Gottschall, Detlev von Liliencron, Ernst von Wildenbruch, and Egerton Ryerson Young died in 1909 without having been nominated for the prize.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Paul Bourget (1852–1935)novel, short story, literary criticism, essaysRené Bazin (1853–1932)2Borden Parker Bowne (1847–1910)philosophy, theology, essaysHenry MacCracken (1840–1918)3Francesco D'Ovidio (1849–1925)philology, literary criticismErnesto Monaci (1844–1918)4Angelo de Gubernatis (1840–1913)drama, essays, philology, poetry5Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé (1848–1910)essays, literary criticismAlbert Vandal (1853–1910)6Anatole France (1844–1924)poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticismPaul Hervieu (1857–1915)7Iwan Gilkin (1858–1924) poetryErnest Discailles (1837–1914)8Martin Greif (1839–1911)poetry, drama20 professors from Breslau, Prague, Leipzig, Liège, Innsbruck, etc.9Ángel Guimerá Jorge (1845–1924) drama, poetry18 members of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona10Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) novel, short story11Ernest Lavisse (1842–1922)historyFrédéric Masson (1847–1923)12Salvador Rueda Santos (1857–1933)poetry, essays4 professors of the Complutense University of Madrid13Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) drama, poetry, essays14John Morley (1838–1923) biography, literary criticism, essays8 members of the British Society of Authors15Georgios Souris (1853–1919) poetry, songwriting16Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) poetry, drama, literary criticism, novel17Émile Verhaeren (1855–1916) poetry, essays18Charles Wagner (1852–1918) theology, philosophyBernard Bouvier (1861–1941)19Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940) novel, short story, poetryCarl Carlson Bonde (1850–1913)20Jaroslav Vrchlický (1853–1912) ()poetry, drama, translationArnošt Kraus (1859–1943)21Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol (1847–1920)history, philosophy, essaysIon Găvănescu (1859–1949)

Prize decision Nobel committee chair Carl David af Wirsén had for years fiercely opposed the proposals to award Selma Lagerlöf the Nobel Prize in Literature. Wirsén advocated Algernon Swinburne who competed against Lagerlöf as the main candidate for the 1908 prize, but following Swinburne's death Lagerlöf received a strong support from the other members of the Swedish Academy in 1909. In addition to a joint nomination from eight members of the Swedish Academy, the Nobel committee received ten nominations for Lagerlöf from prominent professors in Sweden and Denmark, including one proposal of a shared prize to Lagerlöf and Verner von Heidenstam.Gustav Källstrand Andens Olympiska Spel: Nobelprisets historia, Fri Tanke 2021

While Lagerlöf had a strong support by the members of the Swedish Academy as a whole, only two members of the Academy's Nobel committee advocated a prize to Lagerlöf, while the other three, including Wirsén, pushed for the Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck (subsequently awarded in 1911). In addition, Wirsén and committee member Hans Hildebrand, who both opposed a prize to Lagerlöf, also launched the French historian Ernest Lavisse as a candidate for the prize. Wirsén concluded in his report to the Academy: "Since only two committee members unconditionally recommended Selma Lagerlöf, the statement could not contain a proposal in her favor. It has already been mentioned that other committee members paid great attention to Maeterlinck's and Lavisse's candidacies."

On 11 November 1909 a large majority of the members of the Swedish Academy voted to award Lagerlöf the Nobel Prize in Literature as the first Swedish and first female recipient of the award.

Reactions The choice of Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf as Nobel laureate in 1909 (for the "lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterizes her writings") followed fierce debate because of her writing style and subject matter, which broke literary decorums of the time. In the French newspaper Le Figaro the award to Lagerlöf was enthusiastically received. "All of her work", reporter Marc Hélys wrote, "bears the mark of her nobel soul; all of it, all the way to the shortest of her stories, all the way to the delicious volume composed for children: The Wonderful Adventures of Nils". The positive recognition was complemented by a short story by Lagerlöf published in the paper's Supplément littéraire the same day.

Award ceremony In his award ceremony speech on 10 December 1909, Claes Annerstedt of the Swedish Academy said:

During Lagerlöf's acceptance speech, she remained humble and told a fantastic story of her father, as she 'visited him in heaven'. In the story, she asks her father for help with the debt she owes and her father explains the debt is from all the people who supported her throughout her career.Banquet speech nobelprize.org Lagerlöf explains that she remembered her father the moment she received the prize, saying:

Notes

References

External links Award ceremony speech by Claes Annerstedt nobelprize.org Nobel diploma nobelprize.org Photo gallery nobelprize.org