 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature | |
|---|---|
| Giorgos Seferis | |
 "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture." | |
| Date |
|
| Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Presented by | Swedish Academy |
| First award | 1901 |
| Website | Official website |
The1963Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Greekpoet and diplomatGiorgos Seferis (1900–1971) "for his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture."[1] He is thefirst Greek laureate to win theNobel Prize (followed later byOdysseas Elytis in 1979).
Giorgos Seferis was born in Smyrna (present dayİzmir, 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. DuringWorld War II, Seferis accompanied the Free 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 withHomeric myth, notably in works likeMythistorema (1935) andImerologio Katastromatos I-III (1940-1955).[2][3]
Seferis was first nominated in1955 byRomilly Jenkins (1907–1969), an English professor in Byzantine and Modern Greek literature, and was followed by nominations fromT. S. Eliot,C. A. Trypanis andEyvind Johnson until he was eventually awarded. He only received 5 nominations.[4]
In total, theNobel Committee of the Swedish Academy received 121 nominations for 81 distinguished authors such asJorge Luis Borges,Jean-Paul Sartre (awarded in1964),Martin Buber,E. M. Forster,Graham Greene,Salvador de Madariaga,André Malraux, andRamón Menéndez Pidal. The highest number of nominations (with 8 nominations) was for the American poetRobert Frost.[a] 22 of the nominees were nominated for the first time likeMarcel Jouhandeau,Vladimir Nabokov,Michel Butor,Yukio Mishima,Jean Cocteau,André Breton,Nelly Sachs (awarded in1966),René Étiemble, andYevgeny Yevtushenko. Five of the nominees were women, namelyIngeborg Bachmann,Juana de Ibarbourou,Gertrud von le Fort,Kate Roberts, andNelly Sachs. Surprisingly, two heads of state and government were nominated: French presidentCharles de Gaulle and Senegalese presidentLéopold Sédar Senghor.[5][6]
The authorsIon 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, andStark Young died in 1963 without having been nominated for the prize. The American poetRobert Frost died months before the announcement.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefan Andres (1906–1970) |  West Germany | novel, short story | Friedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966) |
| 2 | Jean Anouilh (1910–1987) |  France | drama, screenplay, translation | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 3 | Louis Aragon (1897–1982) | France | novel, short story, poetry, essays |
|
| 4 | Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) |  United Kingdom United States | poetry, essays, screenplay |
|
| 5 | Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973) |  Austria | poetry, drama, novel, short story, essays | Harald Patzer (1910–2005) |
| 6 | Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) |  Ireland | novel, drama, poetry | Johannes Edfelt (1904–1997) |
| 7 | Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964) | West Germany | novel, short story, poetry | Friedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966) |
| 8 | Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) |  Argentina | poetry, essays, translation, short story | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 9 | André Breton (1896–1966) | France | history, poetry, essays | Gabriel Germain (1903–1978) |
| 10 | Martin Buber (1878–1965) | Austria Israel | philosophy | André Neher (1914–1988) |
| 11 | Michel Butor (1926–2016) | France | poetry, novel, essays, translation | Jean Humbert (1901–1980) |
| 12 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) | West Germany | novel, short story | Gustav Korlén (1915–2014) |
| 13 | Josep Carner (1884–1970) |  Spain | poetry, drama, translation |
|
| 14 | Emilio Cecchi (1884–1966) |  Italy | literary criticism, screenplay | Howard Rosario Marraro (1897–1972) |
| 15 | René Char (1907–1988) | France | poetry |
|
| 16 | Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) | France | novel, poetry, drama, screenplay, essays | Léon Cellier (1911–1976) |
| 17 | Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) | France | memoir, essays |
|
| 18 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays |
|
| 19 | Ingemar Düring (1903–1984) |  Sweden | philology, biography, translation | Franz Dirlmeier (1904–1977) |
| 20 | Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) |  Switzerland | drama, novel, short story, essays |
|
| 21 | René Étiemble (1909–2002) | France | novel, literary criticism, essays | Auguste Haury (1910–2002) |
| 22 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism |
|
| 23 | Max Frisch (1911–1991) | Switzerland | novel, drama |
|
| 24 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) | United States | poetry, drama |
|
| 25 | Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969) |  Venezuela | novel, short story |
|
| 26 | Jean Giono (1895–1970) | France | novel, short story, essays, poetry, drama |
|
| 27 | Robert Graves (1895–1985) | United Kingdom | history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays | Douglas Grant (1921–1969) |
| 28 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays |
|
| 29 | Jean Guéhenno (1890–1978) | France | essays, literary criticism | Edmond Jarno (1905–1985) |
| 30 | Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) | Spain | poetry, literary criticism | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
| 31 | Taha Hussein (1889–1973) |  Egypt | novel, short story, poetry, translation | Charles Pellat (1914–1992) |
| 32 | Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays, poetry, screenplay, drama, philosophy |
|
| 33 | Juana de Ibarbourou (1892–1979) |  Uruguay | poetry, essays | Academia Nacional de Letras |
| 34 | Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) |  Poland | poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novel | Jean Fabre (1904–1975) |
| 35 | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) | Sweden | novel, short story |
|
| 36 | Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979) | France | short story, novel | Jean Gaulmier (1905–1997) |
| 37 | Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) |  Japan | novel, short story | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 38 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) |  Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 39 | Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) | West Germany | novel, short story, essays, poetry | Friedrich von der Leyen (1873–1966) |
| 40 | Väinö Linna (1920–1992) |  Finland | novel |
|
| 41 | Karl Löwith (1897–1973) | West Germany | philosophy | Franz Dirlmeier (1904–1977) |
| 42 | Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978) | Spain | essays, history, law, novel | Jean Camp (1891–1968) |
| 43 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism |
|
| 44 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history |
|
| 45 | Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) | Japan | novel, short story, drama, literary criticism | Johannes Rahder (1898–1988) |
| 46 | Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) | Sweden | novel, drama, history | Gösta Bergman (1894–1984) |
| 47 | Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) | France | essays, novel, drama | Louis Moulinier (1904–1971) |
| 48 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama |
|
| 49 | Stratis Myrivilis (1890–1969) |  Greece | novel, short story | The Greek Authors' Union |
| 50 | Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) |  RussiaUnited States | novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir | Robert Martin Adams (1915–1996) |
| 51 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) |  Chile | poetry |
|
| 52 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) | Japan | poetry, literary criticism | Japan Academy |
| 53 | Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) | Ireland | drama, memoir | The English PEN-Club |
| 54 | Rudolf Pfeiffer (1889–1979) | West Germany | philology, essays | Will Richter (1910–1984) |
| 55 | Ezra Pound (1885–1972) | United States | poetry, essays | Rudolf Sühnel (1907–2007) |
| 56 | Vasco Pratolini (1931–1991) | Italy | novel, short story | Paul Renucci (1915–1976) |
| 57 | Henri Queffélec (1910–1992) | France | novel, short story, screenplay | Barthélémy-Antonin Taladoire (1907–1976) |
| 58 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) |  India | philosophy, essays, law |
|
| 59 | Kate Roberts (1891–1985) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays | Idris Foster (1911–1984) |
| 60 | Jules Romains (1885–1972) | France | poetry, drama, screenplay | Gilbert Highet (1906–1978) |
| 61 | Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) | West GermanySweden | poetry, drama |
|
| 62 | Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965) |  Denmark Norway | novel, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 63 | Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) | France | philosophy, novel, drama, essays, screenplay |
|
| 64 | Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971) | Greece | poetry, memoir, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 65 | Ramón José Sender (1901–1982) | Spain | novel, essays | Erik Lindegren (1910–1968) |
| 66 | Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) |  Senegal | poetry, law, essays | Robert Schilling (1913–2004) |
| 67 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy | novel, short story, essays, drama | Elias Wessén (1889–1981) |
| 68 | Georges Simenon (1903–1989) |  Belgium | novel, short story, memoir | Justin O'Brien (1906–1968) |
| 69 | Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) | United Kingdom | novel, essays | Friedrich Schubel (1904–1991) |
| 70 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) |  Soviet Union | novel | Jack Posin (1900–1995) |
| 71 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | Donald Keene (1922–2019) |
| 72 | Gustave Thibon (1903–2001) | France | philosophy | Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990) |
| 73 | Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story | Charles Warren Everett (1895–1983) |
| 74 | Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972) | Italy | philosophy, essays | Academia Santista de Letras |
| 75 | Mika Waltari (1908–1979) | Finland | short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplay | Aapeli Saarisalo (1896–1986) |
| 76 | Elias Venezis (1904–1973) | Greece | novel, short story | The Greek Authors' Union |
| 77 | Erico Verissimo (1905–1975) |  Brazil | novel, short story, autobiography, essays, translation | Jean Roche (1901–1992) |
| 78 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel |
|
| 79 | Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) | United States | drama, novel, short story |
|
| 80 | Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story, drama | Joseph Anthony Mazzeo (1923–1998) |
| 81 | Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1932–2017) | Soviet Union | poetry, novel, short story, drama, screenplay, essays | Konrad Bittner (1890–1967) |
The Nobel committee of theSwedish 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 withW.H. Auden andPablo Neruda (awarded in1971). The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy and chairman of the Nobel committeeAnders 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 ofSamuel Beckett (awarded in1969) andVladimir 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 candidateMikhail Sholokhov for political reasons, but both of them were subsequently awarded the prize.Nelly Sachs was nominated for the first time by committee memberKarl 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 in1966.[7][5]
At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1963,Anders Österling, permanent secretary of theSwedish Academy, said in part:
Seferis’s poetic production is not large, but because of the uniqueness of its thought and style and the beauty of its language, it has become a lasting symbol of all that is indestructible in the Hellenic affirmation of life.[...] When reading Seferis we are forcibly reminded of a fact that is sometimes forgotten: geographically, Greece is not only a peninsula but also a world of water and foam, strewn with myriad islands, an ancient sea kingdom, the perilous and stormy home of the mariner.[...] Technically, Seferis has received vital impulses fromT. S. Eliot, but underneath the tone is unmistakably his own, often carrying a broken echo of the music from an ancient Greek chorus.[8]
In his speech at the Nobel prize banquet atStockholm City Hall, Seferis thanked theSwedish Academy for paying homage to literature written in theGreek language and for honouring poetry:
I find it significant that Sweden wishes to honour not only this poetry, but poetry in general, even when it originates in a small people. For I think that poetry is necessary to this modern world in which we are afflicted by fear and disquiet. Poetry has its roots in human breath – and what would we be if our breath were diminished? Poetry is an act of confidence – and who knows whether our unease is not due to a lack of confidence?[9]
Giorgos Seferis delivered hisNobel lecture entitledSome Notes on Modern Greek Tradition on 11 December 1963.[10]
