The 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Greek poet and diplomat Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971) "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture."Nobel Prize in Literature 1963 nobelprize.org He is the first Greek laureate to win the Nobel Prize (followed by Odysseas Elytis in 1979).

Laureate

Giorgos Seferis was born in Smyrna (present day İzmir, Turkey). When his family moved to France in 1918, he studied law at the University of Paris and became interested in literature. He then went to Athens in 1925 and began a long diplomatic career. During World War II, Seferis accompanied the Greek government-in-exile and returned to liberated Athens in 1944. Many of his, which are replete with themes of alienation, traveling, and death, are set against the backdrop of his extensive travels as a diplomat. Turning Point, his debut book of poems, was released in 1931. In his later poetry, Seferis frequently weaves together modern speech and experience with Homeric myth, notably in works like Mythistorema (1935) and Imerologio Katastromatos I-III (1940-1955).Giorgos Seferis – Facts nobelprize.orgGeorge Seferis britannica.com

Deliberations Nominations Seferis was first nominated in 1955 by Romilly Jenkins (1907–1969), an English professor in Byzantine and Modern Greek literature, and was followed by nominations from T. S. Eliot, C. A. Trypanis and Eyvind Johnson until he was eventually awarded. He only received 5 nominations.Nomination archive – Giorgos Seferis nobelprize.org

In total, the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy received 121 nominations for 81 distinguished authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in 1964), Martin Buber, E. M. Forster, Graham Greene, Salvador de Madariaga, André Malraux, and Ramón Menéndez Pidal. The highest number of nominations (with 8 nominations) was for the American poet Robert Frost. 22 of the nominees were nominated for the first time like Marcel Jouhandeau, Vladimir Nabokov, Michel Butor, Yukio Mishima, Jean Cocteau, André Breton, Nelly Sachs (awarded in 1966), René Étiemble, and Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Five of the nominees were women, namely Ingeborg Bachmann, Juana de Ibarbourou, Gertrud von le Fort, Kate Roberts, and Nelly Sachs. Surprisingly, two heads of state and government were nominated: French president Charles de Gaulle and Senegalese president Léopold Sédar Senghor.Nomination archive – 1963 nobelprize.org

The authors Ion Agârbiceanu, Herbert Asbury, Luis Cernuda, W. E. B. Du Bois, Pola Gojawiczyńska, Edith Hamilton, Christopher Hassall, Nâzım Hikmet, Ernst Kantorowicz, C. S. Lewis, Marie Linde, Brinsley MacNamara, Louis MacNeice, Margaret Murray, Clifford Odets, Yōko Ōta, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, Kay Sage, Tristan Tzara, Hilda Vīka, William Carlos Williams, Veza Canetti and Stark Young died in 1963 without having been nominated for the prize. The American poet Robert Frost died months before the announcement.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Stefan Andres (1906–1970)novel, short storyFriedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966)2Jean Anouilh (1910–1987) drama, screenplay, translationHenry Olsson (1896–1985)3Louis Aragon (1897–1982) novel, short story, poetry, essays4Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973)poetry, essays, screenplay5Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973)poetry, drama, novel, short story, essaysHarald Patzer (1910–2005)6Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) novel, drama, poetryJohannes Edfelt (1904–1997)7Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964) novel, short story, poetryFriedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966)8Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) poetry, essays, translation, short storyHenry Olsson (1896–1985)9André Breton (1896–1966)history, poetry, essaysGabriel Germain (1903–1978)10Martin Buber (1878–1965)philosophyAndré Neher (1914–1988)11Michel Butor (1926–2016) poetry, novel, essays, translationJean Humbert (1901–1980)12Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) novel, short storyGustav Korlén (1915–2014)13Josep Carner (1884–1970) poetry, drama, translation14Emilio Cecchi (1884–1966)literary criticism, screenplayHoward Rosario Marraro (1897–1972)15René Char (1907–1988) poetry16Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)novel, poetry, drama, screenplay, essaysLéon Cellier (1911–1976)17Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) memoir, essays18Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays19Ingemar Düring (1903–1984)philology, biography, translationFranz Dirlmeier (1904–1977)20Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) drama, novel, short story, essays21René Étiemble (1909–2002)novel, literary criticism, essaysAuguste Haury (1910–2002)22Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism23Max Frisch (1911–1991) novel, drama24Robert Frost (1874–1963) poetry, drama25Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969) novel, short story26Jean Giono (1895–1970) novel, short story, essays, poetry, drama27Robert Graves (1895–1985) history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essaysDouglas Grant (1921–1969)28Graham Greene (1904–1991) novel, short story, autobiography, essays29Jean Guéhenno (1890–1978) essays, literary criticismEdmond Jarno (1905–1985)30Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) poetry, literary criticismHenri Peyre (1901–1988)31Taha Hussein (1889–1973) novel, short story, poetry, translationCharles Pellat (1914–1992)32Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) novel, short story, essays, poetry, screenplay, drama, philosophy33Juana de Ibarbourou (1892–1979)poetry, essaysAcademia Nacional de Letras34Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novelJean Fabre (1904–1975)35Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) novel, short story36Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979) short story, novelJean Gaulmier (1905–1997)37Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) novel, short storyHenry Olsson (1896–1985)38Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981)poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays Association of Writers of Yugoslavia39Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) novel, short story, essays, poetryFriedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966)40Väinö Linna (1920–1992) novel41Karl Löwith (1897–1973) philosophyFranz Dirlmeier (1904–1977)42Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978) essays, history, law, novelJean Camp (1891–1968)43André Malraux (1901–1976) novel, essays, literary criticism44Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) philology, history45Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) novel, short story, drama, literary criticismJohannes Rahder (1898–1988)46Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) novel, drama, historyGösta Bergman (1894–1984)47Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) essays, novel, dramaLouis Moulinier (1904–1971)48Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) novel, literary criticism, essays, drama49Stratis Myrivilis (1890–1969) novel, short storyThe Greek Authors' Union50Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoirRobert Martin Adams (1915–1996)51Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) poetry52Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) poetry, literary criticismJapan Academy53Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) drama, memoirThe English PEN-Club54Rudolf Pfeiffer (1889–1979)philology, essaysWill Richter (1910–1984)55Ezra Pound (1885–1972) poetry, essaysRudolf Sühnel (1907–2007)56Vasco Pratolini (1931–1991) novel, short storyPaul Renucci (1915–1976)57Henri Queffélec (1910–1992)novel, short story, screenplayBarthélémy-Antonin Taladoire (1907–1976)58Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) philosophy, essays, law59Kate Roberts (1891–1985)novel, short story, essaysIdris Foster (1911–1984)60Jules Romains (1885–1972) poetry, drama, screenplayGilbert Highet (1906–1978)61Nelly Sachs (1891–1970)poetry, drama62Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965)novel, essaysEyvind Johnson (1900–1976)63Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay64Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971) poetry, memoir, essaysEyvind Johnson (1900–1976)65Ramón José Sender (1901–1982)novel, essaysErik Lindegren (1910–1968)66Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001)poetry, law, essaysRobert Schilling (1913–2004)67Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) novel, short story, essays, dramaElias Wessén (1889–1981)68Georges Simenon (1903–1989)novel, short story, memoirJustin O'Brien (1906–1968)69Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) novel, essaysFriedrich Schubel (1904–1991)70Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) novelJack Posin (1900–1995)71Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) novel, short storyDonald Keene (1922–2019)72Gustave Thibon (1903–2001) philosophy Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990)73Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) essays, literary criticism, short storyCharles Warren Everett (1895–1983)74Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972) philosophy, essaysAcademia Santista de Letras75Mika Waltari (1908–1979) short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplayAapeli Saarisalo (1896–1986)76Elias Venezis (1904–1973)novel, short storyThe Greek Authors' Union77Erico Verissimo (1905–1975) novel, short story, autobiography, essays, translationJean Roche (1901–1992)78Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) poetry, novel79Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) drama, novel, short story80Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) essays, literary criticism, short story, dramaJoseph Anthony Mazzeo (1923–1998)81Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1932–2017)poetry, novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essaysKonrad Bittner (1890–1967)

Prize decision The Nobel committee of the Swedish Academy was unanimous to propose that the prize should be awarded to Giorgos Seferis. Seferis was one of the final three candidates for the prize along with W.H. Auden and Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971). The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy and chairman of the Nobel committee Anders Österling felt "that there now was an opportunity to pay a beautiful tribute to modern Hellas, a language area that so far had been waiting too long [to be] honored in this context". The candidacies of Samuel Beckett (awarded in 1969) and Vladimir Nabokov were dismissed by Österling arguing that neither author lived up to the Nobel prize's "ideal intentions". Österling was also hesitant to award Pablo Neruda and the long time candidate Mikhail Sholokhov for political reasons, but both of them were subsequently awarded the prize. Nelly Sachs was nominated for the first time by committee member Karl Ragnar Gierow. While the committee felt that it was too early for her candidacy, Gierow proposed that the poet should be taken into consideration and Sachs was eventually awarded the prize in 1966.

Award ceremony speech At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1963, Anders Österling, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said in part:

Banquet speech In his speech at the Nobel prize banquet at Stockholm City Hall, Seferis thanked the Swedish Academy for paying homage to literature written in the Greek language and for honouring poetry:

Nobel lecture Giorgos Seferis delivered his Nobel lecture entitled Some Notes on Modern Greek Tradition on 11 December 1963.

Notes

References

External links Award ceremony speech by Anders Österling nobelprize.org Giorgos Seferis Nobel lecture nobelprize.org Giorgos Seferis Banquet speech nobelprize.org Giorgos Seferis documentary nobelprize.org Nobel diploma nobelprize.org