1972 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1972 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the German author Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) "for his writing which through its combination of a broad perspective on his time and a sensitive skill in characterization has contributed to a renewal of German literature." Böll is the fifth German author to be recipient of the prize.

Laureate

The events of World War II had a significant influence on Heinrich Böll's literature. In his debut novel Der Zug war pünktlich ("The Train Was on Time", 1949) and the short story collection Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa... ("Stranger, Bear Word to the Spartans We...", 1950), he illustrated the folly of war and the pain it causes. Böll published a number of books that critiqued West German society after World War II, such as Gruppenbild mit Dame ("Group Portrait with Lady", 1971). Among his best-known works include Und sagte kein einziges Wort ("And Never Said a Word", 1953), Ansichten eines Clowns ("The Clowns", 1963), and Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum ("The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum", 1974).Heinrich Böll – Facts nobelprize.orgHeinrich Böll britannica.com

Deliberations Nominations In 1972, the Swedish Academy received 158 nominations for 100 writers. Böll started earning nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature since 1960. In total, he received 29 nominations with the highest number in 1972 which eventually led to his awarding.Nomination archive – Heinrich Böll nobelprize.org

Twenty-seven authors were newly nominated such as Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, Bernard Malamud, Nadine Gordimer (awarded in 1991), V. S. Naipaul (awarded in 2001), Francis Stuart, Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007), Alan Paton, Astrid Lindgren, Anthony Burgess, and Sri Chinmoy. The most number of nominations was for the British-American poet W. H. Auden with 10 nominations. The oldest nominee was Compton Mackenzie (aged 89) and the youngest was Philip Roth (aged 39). The Polish-born American poet Jacob Glatstein and Indian novelist Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay were nominated posthumously by Moshe Starkman (1906–1975) and the Academy's Nobel Committee respectively. Five of the nominees were women namely Nadine Gordimer, Doris Lessing, Astrid Lindgren, Anna Seghers, and Marie Under.Nomination archive – 1972 nobelprize.org

The authors Natalie Clifford Barney, John Berryman, Victor Bridges, Fredric Brown, Américo Castro, Michał Choromański, Richard Church, Cecil Day-Lewis, R. F. Delderfield, Jacques Deval, Robert Faesi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Ernestine Hill, Helen Hoyt, Vera Inber, Norah Lange, Violette Leduc, Laurence Manning, José Nucete Sardi, Kenneth Patchen, Betty Smith, Edgar Snow, Violet Trefusis, Mark Van Doren, and Ivan Yefremov died in 1972 without having been nominated for the prize.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Said Akl (1911–2014)poetry, philosophy, dramaAssociation of Cultural Clubs in Lebanon2Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898–1987) novel, drama, essays, short story, biography3Edward Albee (1928–2016) dramaDieter Schaller (1929–2003)4Jorge Amado (1912–2001) novel, short storyMarcos Almir Madeira (1916–2003)5Louis Aragon (1897–1982) novel, short story, poetry, essaysJean Gaudon (1926–2019)6Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973)poetry, essays, screenplay7Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) novel, drama, essaysBeniamino Segre (1903–1977)8Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (1898–1971)(posthumous nomination) novel, short story, drama, essays, autobiography, songwritingNobel Committee9Saul Bellow (1915–2005)novel, short story, memoir, essaysElsie Patton (?)10Louis Paul Boon (1912–1979)novel, essays, short story, poetry11Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) poetry, essays, translation, short story12Luis Buñuel (1900–1983) screenplayLars Forssell (1928–2007)13Anthony Burgess (1917–1993)novel, poetry, drama, screenplay, autobiography, biography, essays, literary criticism, translationArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)14Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) novel, short story15Michel Butor (1926–2016) poetry, novel, essays, translationLeon Samuel Roudiez (1917–2004)16Elias Canetti (1905–1994)novel, drama, memoir, essaysKeith Spalding (1913–2002)17Aimé Césaire (1913–2008) poetry, drama, essaysLassi Nummi (1928–2012)18André Chamson (1900–1983) novel, essays19René Char (1907–1988) poetryHenri Peyre (1901–1988)20Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977)essays, pedagogy, literary criticismPratul Chandra Gupta (1910–1990)21Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007)poetry, drama, short story, essays, songwriting22Austin Clarke (1896–1974)poetry, drama, novel, memoirs23Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca (1914–2008) poetryYaşar Nabi Nayır (1908–1981)24Denis de Rougemont (1906–1985) philosophy, essaysSuzanne Deriex (born 1926)25Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) drama, novel, short story, essays26Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996)poetry, essays, translationArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)27Rabbe Enckell (1903–1974) short story, poetry28Salvador Espriu (1913–1985) drama, novel, poetryAntoni Comas i Pujol (1931–1981)29Max Frisch (1911–1991) novel, dramaElisabet Hermodsson (1927–2017)30Romain Gary (1914–1980)novel, essays, literary criticism, screenplay Walther Hinz (1906–1992)31Jacob Glatstein (1896–1971)(posthumous nomination)poetry, essays, literary criticismMoshe Starkman (1906–1975)32William Golding (1911–1993) novel, poetry, drama, essaysNobel Committee33Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014)novel, short story, essay, dramaArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)34Julien Gracq (1910–2007)novel, drama, poetry, essaysGeorges Matoré (1908–1998)35Günter Grass (1927–2015) novel, drama, poetry, essays36Julien Green (1900–1998)novel, autobiography, essaysJohannes Edfelt (1904–1997)37Graham Greene (1904–1991) novel, short story, autobiography, essays38Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008) poetry, drama, essaysLassi Nummi (1928–2012)39William Heinesen (1900–1991) poetry, short story, novelHarald Noreng (1913–2006)40Joseph Heller (1923–1999)novel, short story, drama, screenplayArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)41Vladimír Holan (1905–1980) poetry, essaysNobel Committee42Taha Hussein (1889–1973) novel, short story, poetry, translationIbrāhīm Madkūr (1902–1995)43Gyula Illyés (1902–1983) poetry, novel, drama, essays44Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) drama, essaysJohannes Söderlind (1918–2001)45Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) essaysJean Dubois (1920–2015)46Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) novel, short story Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974)47Ferenc Juhász (1928–2015)poetryArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)48Erich Kästner (1899–1974) poetry, screenplay, autobiographyJohann Maier (1933–2019)49Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981)poetry, drama, short story, novel, essaysNobel Committee50Manbohdan Lal (?)Udai Narain Tewari (?)51Philip Larkin (1922–1985) poetry, novel, essaysJørgen Læssøe (1924–1993)52Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014) novel, short story, essays, dramaNobel Committee53Doris Lessing (1919–2013)novel, short story, memoirs, drama, poetry, essaysArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)54Saunders Lewis (1893–1985) poetry, essays, history, literary criticismJohn Ellis Caerwyn Williams (1912–1999)55Lin Yutang (1895–1976) novel, philosophy, essays, translationPeng Yao (?)56Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002)novel, short story, drama, screenplay57Väinö Linna (1920–1992) novel58Stanislaus Lynch (1907–1983)poetry, essaysDesmond Clarke (1907–1979)59Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972) novel, short story, drama, poetry, history, biography, essays, literary criticism, memoirsNorman Jeffares (1920–2005)60Hugh MacLennan (1907–1990) novel, essaysLawrence Lande (1906–1998)61Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) history, essays, memoirsCarl Becker (1925–1973)62Norman Mailer (1923–2007)novel, short story, poetry, essays, biography, drama, screenplayArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)63Bernard Malamud (1914–1986)novel, short storyLars Gyllensten (1921–2006)64André Malraux (1901–1976) novel, essays, literary criticism65Frederick Manfred (1912–1994)novel, essays66Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) philosophy, dramaCharles Dédéyan (1910–2003)67Gustave Lucien Martin-Saint-René (1888–1973) poetry, novel, essays, literary criticism, drama, songwriting, short storyHenri Guiter (1909–1994)68Harry Martinson (1904–1978) poetry, novel, drama, essays Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974)69László Mécs (1895–1978) poetry, essaysWatson Kirkconnell (1895–1977)70Veijo Meri (1928–2015)novel, short story, poetry, essaysOsmo Hormia (1926–1983)71Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) novel, drama, historyHarald Noreng (1913–2006)72Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) poetry, translation73Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) novel, literary criticism, essays, dramaJacques Robichez (1914–1999)74Sławomir Mrożek (1930–2013) drama, essaysKauko Aatos Ojala (1919–1987)75Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (1932–2018)novel, short story, essaysArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)76Mikhail Naimy (1889–1988) poetry, drama, short story, novel, autobiography, literary criticismJoseph Bassila (?)77Pak Dujin (1916–1998)poetryBaek Cheol (1908–1985)78Alan Paton (1903–1988)novel, autobiography, essaysAstley Cooper Partridge (1901–?)79José María Pemán (1897–1981) poetry, drama, novel, essays, screenplayJuan de Contreras y López de Ayala (1893–1978)80Ezra Pound (1885–1972) poetry, essaysHans Galinsky (1909–1991)81Pandelis Prevelakis (1909–1986) novel, poetry, drama, essays Kariophilēs Mētsakēs (1932–2013)82Henri Queffélec (1910–1992) novel, short story, screenplayEdmond Jarno (1905–1985)83Evaristo Ribera Chevremont (1890–1976) poetry84Yannis Ritsos (1909–1990) poetry, songwritingPer Wästberg (born 1933)85Philip Roth (1933–2018)novel, short story, memoirs, essaysArtur Lundkvist (1906–1991)86Georges Schéhadé (1905–1989) poetry, drama, novel87Arno Schmidt (1914–1979) novel, short story, biography, essaysNobel Committee88Anna Seghers (1900–1983) novel, short story89Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) poetry, essaysLassi Nummi (1928–2012)90Claude Simon (1913–2005) novel, essaysNobel Committee91Zaharia Stancu (1902–1974) poetry, novel, philosophy, essays92Francis Stuart (1902–2000)novel, short story, poetry, essaysDesmond Clarke (1907–1979)93Abraham Sutzkever (1913–2010)poetryJoseph Leftwich (1892–1984)94Marie Under (1883–1980) poetryLassi Nummi (1928–2012)95Gerard Walschap (1898–1989) novel, drama, essays96Patrick White (1912–1990) novel, short story, drama, poetry, autobiography97Elie Wiesel (1928–2016)novel, memoirs, essays, dramaAndré Neher (1914–1988)98Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) drama, novel, short storyWolfgang Clemen (1909–1990)99Vũ Hoàng Chương (1915–1976)poetry, dramaThanh Lãng (1924–1978)100Aaron Zeitlin (1898–1973)drama, short story, essays, literary criticismMoshe Starkman (1906–1975)

Prize decision In 1972, the Nobel committee consisted of author, critic and permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy Karl Ragnar Gierow (chair), author and critic Johannes Edfelt, author Lars Gyllensten, author Eyvind Johnson, author and critic Artur Lundkvist and author and critic Anders Österling. The reports from members of the committee made public fifty years later reveal that the committee for the 1972 Nobel Prize in Literature firstly focused on awarding an author from the field of German literature.

Heinrich Böll had been considered for the prize by the Nobel committee since the first time he was nominated in 1960. The publication of Gruppenbild mit Dame in 1971, a year when Böll was not nominated for the prize, strengthened his candidacy, and in 1972 the Nobel committee proposed that Böll should be awarded the prize. A shared prize between Böll and Günter Grass was proposed by the committee. The other final candidates were the Italian poet Eugenio Montale and Australian novelist Patrick White.