1943 Nobel Prize in Literature

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Nobel prize medal.svg 1943 Nobel Prize in Literature
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First award1901
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  1942  · Nobel Prize in Literature ·  1944  

The 1943 Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded due to the ongoing Second World War. [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 since 1939 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
No.NomineeCountryGenre(s)Nominator(s)
1 Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950)British Raj Red Ensign.svg  India philosophy, poetry, essays Francis Younghusband (1863–1942)
2 Elisaveta Bagryana (1893–1991)Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria poetry, translation Stefan Mladenov (1880–1963)
3 Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948)Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
(Flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1949-1991).svg  Ukraine)
philosophy, theologyAlf Nyman (1884–1968)
4René Béhaine (1880–1966)Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  France novel, short story, essaysMaurice Mignon (1882–1962)
5 Edmund Blunden (1896–1974)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom poetry, essays, biographyHeinrich Wolfgang Donner (1904-1980)
6 Henriette Charasson (1884–1972)Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  France poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism, biographyPierre Fernessole (1879–1965)
7 Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício (1884–1947)Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal poetry, essaysAntónio Baião (1878–1961)
8 Teixeira de Pascoaes (1877–1952)Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal poetryJoão António Mascarenhas Júdice (1898–1957)
9 Georges Duhamel (1884–1966)Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  France novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism Sigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)
10 Vilhelm Grønbech (1873–1948)Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Denmark history, essays, poetrySven Lönborg (1871–1959)
11 Franz Hellens (1881–1972)Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Belgium novel, poetry, literary criticismGustave Charlier (1885–1959)
12 Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Netherlands history Willem van Eysinga (1878–1961)
13 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950)Flag of Germany (1935-1945).svg  Denmark novel, short story, essays
14 Enrique Larreta (1875–1961)Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina history, essays, drama, novel Anders Österling (1884–1981)
15 Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957)Flag of Chile.svg  Chile poetry Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)
16 Charles Langbridge Morgan (1894–1958)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom drama, novel, essays, poetry Sigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)
17Carlos María Ocantos (1860–1949)Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina novel, short story, essays Salvador Bermúdez de Castro (1863–1945)
18 John Steinbeck (1902–1968)Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States novel, short story, screenplay Sigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)
19 Paul Valéry (1871–1945)Flag of France (1794-1958).svg  France poetry, philosophy, essays, dramaErnst Bendz (1880–1966)
20 Franz Werfel (1890–1945)Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czechoslovakia novel, short story, drama, poetry Anders Österling (1884–1981)

References

  1. "Nobel literature row: usually it takes a world war to disrupt the prize". The Conversation . 4 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  2. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1943 nobelprize.org
  3. 1 2 Nomination archive – 1943 nobelprize.org