The 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French author André Gide (1869–1951) "for his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight".

Laureate

André Gide's early works such as the prose poem Les nourritures terrestres ("Fruits of the Earth", 1897) were influenced by French symbolism. Later notable works include The L'Immoraliste ("The Immoralist", 1902), La Porte Étroite ("Strait is the Gate", 1907) and La Symphonie pastorale ("The Pastoral Symphony", 1919). The autobiographical Si le grain ne meurt ("If It Die...", 1924) is regarded as one of the great works of confessional literature. In 1926, his most complex novel Les faux-monnayeurs ("The Counterfeiters") was published.

Deliberations Nominations André Gide had only been nominated for the prize once before in 1946. In 1947, the Nobel committee received 43 nominations for 35 writers including T. S. Eliot (awarded in 1948), Boris Pasternak (awarded in 1958), Teixeira de Pascoaes, Jules Romains, Angelos Sikelianos, Carl Sandburg, Georges Duhamel, Ignazio Silone, Benedetto Croce, Ramon Perez de Ayala, Arnulf Øverland, Johan Falkberget and Marie Under. Eleven were nominated first-time such as Pär Lagerkvist (awarded in 1951), Ernest Hemingway (awarded in 1954), Mikhail Sholokov (awarded in 1965), Shmuel Yosef Agnon (awarded in 1966), Toyohiko Kagawa, Georgios Drossinis, Nikos Kazantzakis, Bernard O'Dowd and André Malraux. Most nominations were submitted for Henriette Charasson and Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz with three nominations each. Four were female nominees namely Henriette Charasson, Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício, Maila Talvio and Marie Under.

The authors James Agate, Marie Belloc Lowndes, J. D. Beresford, Tristan Bernard, Jean-Richard Bloch, Svend Borberg, Wolfgang Borchert, Margaret Cameron, Emilio Carrere, Willa Cather, Sigurd Christiansen, Winston Churchill, Morris Raphael Cohen, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Max Dessoir, Léon-Paul Fargue, Joaquín Gallegos Lara, Edith Maud Hull, Richard Le Gallienne, William Le Queux, Gurli Linder, Hugh Lofting, Manuel Machado, Arthur Machen, Emma Orczy, Nicholas Roerich, Margaret Marshall Saunders, Balys Sruoga, Flora Thompson, E. C. Vivian, Swami Vipulananda and Alfred North Whitehead died in 1947 without having been nominated for the prize.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Mark Aldanov (1886–1957) ()biography, novel, essays, literary criticism Ivan Bunin (1870–1953)2Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1887–1970) novel, short storyHugo Bergmann (1883–1975)3Sholem Asch (1880–1957)novel, short story, drama, essaysWalter Arthur Berendsohn (1884–1984)4Eugène Baie (1874–1964) law, essays Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)5Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948) ()philosophy, theology Alf Nyman (1884–1968)6Henriette Charasson (1884–1972) poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism, biography7Benedetto Croce (1866–1952) history, philosophy, lawBernardino Barbadoro (1889–1961)8Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício (1884–1947) poetry, essaysAntónio Baião (1878–1961)9Teixeira de Pascoaes (1877–1952) poetryJoão António Mascarenhas Júdice (1898–1957)10Georgios Drossinis (1859–1951)poetry, novel, short story11Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism12Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888–1965) poetry, essays, dramaGustaf Hellström (1882–1953)13Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) novel, short story, essays14André Gide (1869–1951) novel, short story, poetry, drama, memoir, essaysLorentz Eckhoff (1884–1974)15Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) novel, short story, screenplayHjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961)16Toyohiko Kagawa (1888–1960) essaysKnut Westman (1881–1967)17Horace Kallen (1882–1974)philosophy, essaysLouise Rosenblatt (1904–2005)18Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) novel, philosophy, essays, drama, memoir, translationNikos Athanasiou Veēs (1882–1958)19Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974) poetry, novel, short story, dramaHenrik Schück (1855–1947)20André Malraux (1901–1976) novel, essays, literary criticismHenri Peyre (1901–1988)21Charles Langbridge Morgan (1894–1958) drama, novel, essays, poetrySigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)22Bernard O'Dowd (1866–1953)poetry, essays23Arnulf Øverland (1889–1968) poetry, essaysHarry Fett (1875–1962)24Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) poetry, novel, translationMaurice Bowra (1898–1971)25Branislav Petronijević (1875–1954) ()philosophyVladeta Popović (1894–1951)26Ramón Pérez de Ayala (1880–1962) novel, poetry, literary criticismEdgar Allison Peers (1891–1952)27Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (1878–1947) novel, poetry, short story28Jules Romains (1885–1972) poetry, drama, screenplay29Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) poetry, essays, biography Einar Tegen (1884–1965)30Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) novelHenry Olsson (1896–1985)31Angelos Sikelianos (1884–1951) poetry, dramaNikos Athanasiou Veēs (1882–1958)32Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) novel, short story, essays, dramaFredrik Böök (1883–1961)33Maila Talvio (1871–1951) novel, short story, translationVeikko Antero Koskenniemi (1885–1962)34Marie Under (1883–1980) ()poetryHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)35Gregorios Xenopoulos (1867–1951)novel, drama, essays, literary criticismIōannēs Kalitsounakēs (1878–1966)

Prize decision In 1947, the Nobel committee's recommended candidates for that year's prize were André Gide, Greek author Angelos Sikelianos and American-British T. S. Eliot. A majority of the committee, Anders Österling, Hjalmar Gullberg and Sigfrid Siwertz, advocated a prize to Gide, while committee member Fredrik Böök proposed Sikelianos, with Eliot as his second proposal.

On 13 November 1947, the Swedish Academy decided that that year's Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to André Gide "for his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight".

Award ceremony At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1947, Anders Österling, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said:

For reasons of health, André Gide was unable to be present at the award ceremony. His prize was accepted by the French ambassador.

Notes

References

External links Award ceremony speech nobelprize.org Banquet speech nobelprize.org