The 1926 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Italian author Grazia Deledda "for her idealistically inspired writings, which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1926 nobelprize.org She was the second Italian and second female Nobel laureate in literature.
Laureate
Grazia Deledda wrote a large collection of novels, short stories, articles, stage plays, and poems. After the publication of her first novel Fior de Sardegna ("The Flower of Sardinia") in 1891, which was followed by Elias Portolu in 1900, Deledda gained widespread recognition and praise around the world. Due to the old traditions with deep historical roots that formed Deledda's upbringing and the unfortunate outcomes of her family members, she developed a strong sense of destiny. Her works frequently deal with themes like uncontrollable forces, moral quandaries, passion, and human frailty. Among her oeuvres that earned her prominence in literature include Dopo il divorzio ("After the Divorce", 1902), L'edera ("Ivy", 1908), Canne al vento ("Reeds in the Wind", 1913), and La Fuga in Egitto ("The Flight into Egypt", 1925).Grazia Deledda – Facts nobelprize.orgGrazia Deledda Nobel Prize, Sardinia, Novels britannica.com
Deliberations Nominations Deledda was not nominated in 1926 but in 1927.Nomination archive – Literature 1926 She received 18 nominations in total beginning in 1913 with the recommendations of Luigi Luzzatti (1841–1927) and Ferdinando Martini (1840–1928). In 1927, she was nominated by academy member and literary historian Henrik Schück (1855–1947) after which she was eventually awarded.Nomination archive – Grazia Deledda (Madesani) nobelprize.org
In total, the Nobel Committee received 37 nominations for 29 authors including George Bernard Shaw (awarded for 1925), Thomas Hardy, Willem Kloos, Rudolf Maria Holzapfel and James George Frazer. Sixteen of the nominees were newly nominated such as Arnold Bennett, Paul Claudel, Avetis Aharonian, Sofía Casanova, Vicente Huidobro, Concha Espina de la Serna (with the highest number of nominations), Edvard Westermarck, Ada Negri, Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, Karl Kraus, J.-H. Rosny aîné, Johannes Jørgensen and Kostis Palamas. Four of the nominees were women: Sigrid Undset (awarded in 1928), Ada Negri, Concha Espina de la Serna, and Sofía Casanova.
The authors Gertrude Bell, René Boylesve, Ada Cambridge, Javier de Viana, Fran Detela, Lyubov Dostoevskaya, Sarah Doudney, Sigrid Elmblad, Ronald Firbank, Dmitry Furmanov, Juan Silvano Godoi, John Burland Harris-Burland, Rose Hawthorne, Ellen Key, Sidney Lee, Helena Nyblom, Karel Václav Rais, Jean Richepin, Rainer Maria Rilke, Albert Robida, Radu Rosetti, August Sedláček, Ågot Gjems Selmer and Carl Nicolai Starcke died in 1926 without having been nominated for the prize.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s) 1 Avetis Aharonian (1866–1948) essays, short story Antoine Meillet (1866–1936) 2 Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) novel, short story, drama, essays Gerard De Geer (1858–1943) 3 Georg Bonne (1859–1945) essays Günther Müller (1890–1957) 4 Georg Brandes (1842–1927) literary criticism, essays Harry Fett (1875–1962) 5 Sofía Casanova (1861–1958) novel, short story, essays 6 Paul Claudel (1868–1955) poetry, drama, essays, memoir René Bazin (1853–1932) 7 Concha Espina de la Serna (1869–1955) novel, short story 8 James George Frazer (1854–1941) history, essays, translation Martin Persson Nilsson (1874–1967) 9 Paul Ernst (1866–1933) novel, short story, drama, essays 10 Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) novel, short story, poetry, drama Robert Eugen Zachrisson (1880–1937) 11 Ferenc Herczeg (1863–1954) novel, drama, essays Hungarian Academy of Sciences 12 Rudolf Maria Holzapfel (1874–1930) philosophy, essays Artur Weese (1868–1934) 13 Vicente Huidobro (1893–1948) poetry Enrique Nercasseau Morán (1854–1925) 14 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950) novel, short story, poetry Frederik Poulsen (1876–1950) 15 Johannes Jørgensen (1866–1956) novel, poetry, biography 16 Hans Ernst Kinck (1865–1926) philology, novel, short story, drama, essays Sten Konow (1867–1948) 17 Willem Kloos (1859–1938) poetry, essays, literary criticism Jacob Prinsen (1866–1935) 18 Josip Kosor (1879–1961) () novel, poetry, drama Branislav Petronijević (1875–1954) 19 Pyotr Krasnov (1869–1947) essays Vladimir Andreevich Frantsev (1867–1942) 20 Karl Kraus (1874–1936) essays, drama, poetry 21 Ada Negri (1870–1945) poetry, novel, essays Michele Scherillo (1860–1930) 22 Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) poetry, essays Simos Menardos (1872–1933) 23 Paul Raynal (1885–1971) drama Tor Hedberg (1862–1931) 24 J.-H. Rosny aîné (1856–1940) novel, short story 25 George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) drama, essays, novel 26 Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) novel, memoir, essays Ulrik Anton Motzfeldt (1807–1865) 27 Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) novel, poetry, drama, essays Walther Brecht (1876–1950) 28 Edvard Westermarck (1862–1939) philosophy, essays Gunnar Landtman (1878–1940) 29 Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (1855–1931) poetry University of Montevideo
Prize decision
Deledda received her 1926 award one year later, in 1927. The Swedish Academy announced in November 1926 that no Nobel Prize in Literature would be awarded with the following explanation:
The postponed prize for 1925 was awarded to George Bernard Shaw. Certain about a rumour that the Norwegian author Olav Duun was going to be awarded the prize in 1926, the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten wrongly announced Duun as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature on their front page on 11 November 1926 before the Swedish Academy's announcement of Shaw as the winner later that day, which was a publication scandal in Norway. Duun lost out to Shaw with just one vote.
Notes
References
External links Documentary Article by Anders Hallengren