1965 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Soviet-Russian novelist Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) "for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people."Nobel Prize in Literature 1965 nobelprize.org He is the third Russian-speaking author to become the prize's recipient.

Laureate

Mikhail Sholokhov was born in Vyoshenskaya, Russia. He fought in the Russian Civil War as a Bolshevik at the age of 13. To pursue a career as a journalist, he relocated to Moscow in 1922. He returned to his birthplace two years later and concentrated solely on his literary career. He drew inspiration for his debut book, Donskie Rasskazy ("Tales from the Don", 1925), from his experiences in both the Russian Civil War and World War I.Mikhail Sholokhov – Facts nobelprize.org

His magnum opus Tikhii Don ("The Quiet Don", 1928–1966) was published in four volumes (translated as And Quiet Flows the Don (1934); The Don Flows Home to the Sea (1940); Quiet Flows the Don (1966)) to him 14 years to complete. It was praised as a potent illustration of socialist realism and became the most widely-read book in Soviet literature. Sholokhov had a keen interest in how people's lives played out against Russia's changes and problems. It took him 27 years to complete his other significant piece for the Don cycle, Podnyataya Tselina ("Virgin Soil Upturned", 1932–1960).Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov britannica.com

Deliberations Nominations Sholokhov started receiving nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature since 1947. He received 20 nominations in total until he was eventually awarded.Nomination archive – Mikhail Sholokhov nobelprize.orgNomination archive – Michail Solochov nobelprize.org He received the highest number of nominations in the year 1965.

For this year, the Nobel Committee received 120 nominationsNomination archive – 1965 nobelprize.org for 93 authors including Simon Vestdijk, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Nelly Sachs (awarded in 1966), André Malraux, Ezra Pound, Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971), E. M. Forster, Max Frisch, and Taha Hussein. 21 of the nominees were newly nominated, such as Alejo Carpentier, Konstantin Paustovsky, Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh, Anna Akhmatova, Marguerite Yourcenar, Gyula Illyés, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Gilbert Cesbron, Giovannino Guareschi, and Alan Sillitoe. The highest number of nominations was for the French author André Malraux (with six nominations). Eight of the nominees were women, namely: Marguerite Yourcenar, Judith Wright, Anna Akhmatova, Katherine Anne Porter, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Nelly Sachs, Maria Dąbrowska, and María Raquel Adler.

The authors Jacques Audiberti, Alejandro Casona, Thomas B. Costain, Rampo Edogawa, Eleanor Farjeon, Lorraine Hansberry, Louis Hjelmslev, Mehdi Huseyn, Shirley Jackson, Randall Jarrell, Una Marson, Betty Miller, Edgar Mittelholzer, Fan S. Noli, Dawn Powell, Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., Jack Spicer, Howard Spring, Thomas Sigismund Stribling, Paul Tillich, and Aslaug Vaa died in 1965 without having been nominated for the prize.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) poetry2María Raquel Adler (1901–1974)poetry, essaysCatholic University of Cuyo3Theodor Adorno (1903–1969)philosophy, essaysHelmut Viebrock (1912–1997)4Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1887–1970) novel, short storyBaruch Kurzweil (1907–1972)5Alceu Amoroso Lima (1893–1983)philosophy, essays, literary criticismAcademia Mineira de Letras6Louis Aragon (1897–1982) novel, short story, poetry, essays7Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967)novel, short story, poetry, essaysAngelo Monteverdi (1886–1967)8Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899–1974) novel, short story, poetry, essays, dramaErik Lindegren (1910–1968)9Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) poetry, essays, screenplay10Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) novel, drama, poetryWilliam Stuart Maguinness (1903–1983)11René Béhaine (1880–1966) novel, short story, essaysYves Gandon (1899–1975)12Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) poetry, essays, translation, short story13Henri Bosco (1888–1976) novel, short storyBarthélémy-Antonin Taladoire (1907–1976)14Maurice Bowra (1898–1971)history, essays, literary criticism, poetryErnest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992)15Martin Buber (1878–1965) philosophy16Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) novel, short storyGustav Korlén (1915–2014)17Josep Carner (1884–1970) poetry, drama, translationRobert Guiette (1895–1976)18Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) novel, short story, essaysJean-Louis Flecniakoska (1913–2005)19Gilbert Cesbron (1913–1979)novel, short story, essays, drama, poetryPierre Jonin (1912–1997)20André Chamson (1900–1983) novel, essaysCharles Rostaing (1904–1999)21René Char (1907–1988) poetryGeorges Blin (1917–2016)22Maria Dąbrowska (1889–1965) novel, short story, essays, drama, literary criticismCarl Stief (1914–1998)23Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) novel, short story, poetry, drama, essaysPaul Gerhard Buchloh (1922–1986)24Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) drama, novel, short story, essaysFriedrich Sengle (1909–1994)25Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) novel, short story, essaysHans Heiberg (1904–1978)26Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticismPierre Legouis (1891–1975)27Max Frisch (1911–1991) novel, drama28Sudhindra Nath Ghose (1899–1965)novel, short story, essaysHenri de Ziégler (1885–1970)29Gopal Singh (1917–1990)biography, law, essays, translation30Giovannino Guareschi (1908–1968)novel, short story, essaysMario Manlio Rossi (1895–1971)31Jean Guéhenno (1890–1978) essays, literary criticismEdmond Jarno (1905–1985)32Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) poetry, literary criticismHenri Peyre (1901–1988)33Jean Guitton (1901–1999) philosophy, theologyÉdouard Delebecque (1910–1990)34Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) novel, short story, poetryStellan Arvidson (1902–1997)35Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972) novel, short story, essaysGeoffrey Tillotson (1905–1969)36Pêr-Jakez Helias (1914–1995)poetry, drama, essaysAndré Lebois (1915–1978)37Taha Hussein (1889–1973) novel, short story, poetry, translationCharles Pellat (1914–1992)38Gyula Illyés (1902–1983) poetry, novel, drama, essaysJános Lotz (1913–1973)39Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novelJean Fabre (1904–1975)40Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh (1892–1997) short story, translationRichard Nelson Frye (1920–2014)41Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) novel, short story Carl-Eric Thors (1920–1986)42Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979) short story, novel Jean Gaulmier (1905–1997)43Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) philosophy, novel, memoir44Marie Luise Kaschnitz (1901–1974) novel, short story, essays, drama Hermann Tiemann (1899–1981)45Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) novel, short storyHarry Martinson (1904–1978)46Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) poetry, drama, short story, novel, essaysAssociation of Writers of Yugoslavia47Erich Kästner (1899–1974) poetry, screenplay, autobiographyWerner Betz (1912–1980)48André Malraux (1901–1976) novel, essays, literary criticism49Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) philosophy, dramaOlof Gigon (1912–1998)50William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) novel, short story, drama, essaysJean-Albert Bédé (1903–1977)51Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) philology, history 52Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) novel, short story, drama, literary criticismHarry Martinson (1904–1978)53Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) novel, drama, historyGösta Bergman (1894–1984)54Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) essays, novel, dramaLouis Moulinier (1904–1971)56Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) novel, literary criticism, essays, dramaUberto Limentani (1913–1989)57Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir58Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) poetry59Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) poetry, literary criticismNaoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979)60Konstantin Paustovsky (1892–1968) novel, poetry, drama Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982)61Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980) short story, essaysGeorge Hendrick (1929–2021)62Ezra Pound (1885–1972) poetry, essaysHans Galinsky (1909–1991)63Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn Rahnamā (1894–1990) history, essays, translationAli-Asghar Hekmat (1893–1980)64Wilhelm Röpke (1899–1966)essaysOlof Gigon (1912–1998)65Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) poetry, drama66Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965) novel, essaysEyvind Johnson (1900–1976)67Alan Sillitoe (1928–2010)novel, short story, essays, poetry, translationRobert Graves (1895–1985)68Georges Simenon (1903–1989) novel, short story, memoirRené Kaech (1909–1989)69Upton Sinclair (1878–1968)novel, short story, drama, autobiography, essaysSidney Kaplan (1913–1993)70Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) novel, essays 71Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984)novel72Carl Erik Soya (1896–1983)short story, drama, screenplay, poetry, essaysThe Danish PEN-Club73Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969) novel, short storyMaurice Gilliams (1900–1982)74Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) novel, short story Harry Martinson (1904–1978)75Gustave Thibon (1903–2001) philosophy Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990)76Miguel Torga (1907–1995) poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiographyGöran Hammarström (1922–2019)80Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)essays, literary criticism, short storyLewis Gaston Leary (1906–1990)81Henri Troyat (1911–2007)novel, biography, historyErnst Dickenmann (1902–1985)82Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972) philosophy, essays Academia Santista de Letras83Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) poetry, essays, literary criticismOtis Fellows (1908–1993)84Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) poetry, novel85Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) novel, poetry, essays, translation86Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) novel, poetry, essays, literary criticismCleanth Brooks (1906–1994)87Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) drama, novel, short story88Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) essays, literary criticism, short story, drama89Judith Wright (1915–2000) poetry, literary criticism, novel, essaysGreta Hort (1903–1967)90Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987)novel, essays, poetryIda-Marie Frandon (1907–1997)91Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui (1901–1982)novelElie Poulenard (1901–1985)92Arnold Zweig (1887–1968) novel, short story93Arnulf Øverland (1889–1968) poetry, essays

Prize decision The Nobel committee of the Swedish Academy was unanimous to propose that the prize should be awarded to Mikhail Sholokhov, who had been a candidate for many years and a main candidate for the prize the previous year. Committee member Anders Österling stated that "His series of novels from the land of the Don Cossacks is a classic masterpiece that retains its brilliance with every re-reading, and this folk epic still constitutes an indisputable basis for the award, even if it comes quite late." The committee discussed a proposal to share the prize between Sholokhov and Anna Akhmatova, but the idea was rejected by Anders Österling, saying that the authors had nothing but their language in common. The committee also discussed the possibility of a shared prize to Miguel Angel Asturias and Jorge Luis Borges, and to Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs respectively.

Reactions The choice of Sholokhov was widely criticised for being allegedly politically motivated, but was celebrated by the authorities in the Soviet Union.

References

External links Award Ceremony speech nobelprize.org List of all nominations nobelprize.org