1943 Nobel Prize in Literature explained

1943 Nobel Prize in Literature
Presenter:Swedish Academy
Year:1901
Holder Label:1943 laureate
Holder:none
Location:Stockholm, Sweden
Previous:1942
Main:Nobel Prize in Literature
Next:1944

The 1943 Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded due to the ongoing World War II.[1] Instead, the prize money was allocated with 1/3 to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section.[2] This was the seventh occasion in Nobel history that the prize was not conferred.

Nominations

Despite no author(s) being awarded for the 1941 prize due to the ongoing second world war, a number of literary critics, societies and academics continued sending nominations to the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy, hoping that their nominated candidate may be considered for the prize. In total, the academy received 21 nominations for 20 writers.[3]

Five of the nominees were newly nominated namely Sri Aurobindo, John Steinbeck (awarded in 1962), Franz Werfel, Elisaveta Bagryana, and Franz Hellens. The highest number of nominations – two nominations – was for the Danish author Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, who was awarded in 1944. Four of the nominees were women namely Gabriela Mistral (awarded in 1945), Elisaveta Bagryana, Henriette Charasson, and Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício.[3]

The authors Carlos Arniches, Stephen Vincent Benét, Laurence Binyon, Pieter Cornelis Boutens, Robin George Collingwood, Virgilio Dávila, Jovan Dučić, Louis Esson, Nordahl Grieg, Radclyffe Hall, Georg Hermann, Ida Lee, Guido Mazzoni, Arthur Mee, Beatrix Potter, Susan Stebbing, Helene Stöcker, Annie S. Swan, Frida Uhl, Else Ury, Beatrice Webb, and Simone Weil died in 1943 without having been nominated for the prize.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize
scope=col No.scope=col Nomineescope=col Countryscope=col Genre(s)scope=col Nominator(s)
1Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950)philosophy, poetry, essaysFrancis Younghusband (1863–1942)
2Elisaveta Bagryana (1893–1991) poetry, translationStefan Mladenov (1880–1963)
3Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948)
philosophy, theology Alf Nyman (1884–1968)
4René Béhaine (1880–1966) novel, short story, essaysMaurice Mignon (1882–1962)
5Edmund Blunden (1896–1974) United Kingdompoetry, essays, biography Heinrich Wolfgang Donner (1904-1980)
6Henriette Charasson (1884–1972) poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism, biographyPierre Fernessole (1879–1965)
7Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício (1884–1947) poetry, essays António Baião (1878–1961)
8Teixeira de Pascoaes (1877–1952) poetry João António Mascarenhas Júdice (1898–1957)
9Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticismSigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)
10Vilhelm Grønbech (1873–1948) history, essays, poetrySven Lönborg (1871–1959)
11Franz Hellens (1881–1972) novel, poetry, literary criticismGustave Charlier (1885–1959)
12Johan Huizinga (1872–1945) historyWillem van Eysinga (1878–1961)
13Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950) novel, short story, essays
14Enrique Larreta (1875–1961) Argentinahistory, essays, drama, novelAnders Österling (1884–1981)
15Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) ChilepoetryHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)
16Charles Langbridge Morgan (1894–1958) United Kingdomdrama, novel, essays, poetrySigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)
17Carlos María Ocantos (1860–1949) Argentinanovel, short story, essaysSalvador Bermúdez de Castro (1863–1945)
18John Steinbeck (1902–1968) United Statesnovel, short story, screenplaySigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)
19Paul Valéry (1871–1945) poetry, philosophy, essays, dramaErnst Bendz (1880–1966)
20Franz Werfel (1890–1945)novel, short story, drama, poetryAnders Österling (1884–1981)

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nobel literature row: usually it takes a world war to disrupt the prize. The Conversation. 4 May 2018. 21 May 2021.
  2. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1943/summary/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1943
  3. https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/list.php?prize=4&year=1943 Nomination archive – 1943