 1919 Nobel Prize in Literature | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Spitteler | ||||
.jpg) "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring." | ||||
| Date |
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| Location | Stockholm, Sweden | |||
| Presented by | Swedish Academy | |||
| First award | 1901 | |||
| Website | Official website | |||
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The1919Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Swiss poetCarl Spitteler (1845–1924) "in special appreciation of his epic,Olympian Spring."[2] Spitteler received his prize the following year after the Nobel Committee decided that none of the 1919 nominations met the criteria as outlined in Alfred Nobel's will.[2] He is the first Swiss recipient of the literature prize.[3]
Under thepseudonym of Carl Felix Tandem, Spitteler published his first poetry collection,Prometheus und Epimetheus ("Prometheus und Epithemus") in 1881, showing contrasts between ideals and dogmas through the two mythological figures of the titles. From 1900 to 1905, he wrote the epicDer olympische Frühling ("Olympian Spring"), an allegory written iniambic hexameter, mixing fantastic, naturalistic, religious and mythological themes that deal with human relationship with the universe. The novelImago (1906) which examines the role of theunconscious in the conflict between a creative mind and the middle-class restrictions with internal monologue, influencedCarl Jung in his usage of "imago" inJungian psychoanalysis.[4][5]
Spitteler's epicDer olympische Frühling ("Olympian Spring"), written between 1900 and 1905, is about the establishment of the rule of theGreek gods over the world.[6] Aniambic hexameterallegory, the epic explores universal concerns such asfaith,morality,hope,despair, andethics in a setting among the Greek gods, at the same time, examining themes related to fantasy, religion, and mythology.[6][7] It is originally published in four volumes: "Overture," "Hera the Bride," "High Tide," and "End and Change."[6] He later revised the epic in 1909 after which it achieved immediate popularity in Switzerland and Germany, gaining thousands of publications.[7][8]
Spitteler was first nominated in1912 by professors in Bern and Zurich after gaining steady success in revisingOlympian Spring in 1910. Since then, he received annual recommendations from various academics and Nobel Committee members – eighteen nominations in total – until he was eventually awarded in1920.[9]
In total, the Nobel Committee for Literature received 18 nominations for 12 authors such asJuhani Aho,Hans E. Kinck,Erik Axel Karlfeldt (awarded in1931) andPer Hallström. Five of the nominees were newly nominated:Władysław Reymont (awarded in1924),John Galsworthy (awarded in1932),Ebenezer Howard,Hugo von Hofmannsthal andArno Holz. No women were nominated for this year.[10]
The authorsLeonid Andreyev,L. Frank Baum,Matilda Betham-Edwards,Andrew Carnegie,Petre P. Carp,Ada Langworthy Collier,Ferdinando Fontana,John Fox Jr.,Weedon Grossmith,Ernst Haeckel,Gustav Landauer,Paul Lindau,Rosa Luxemburg,Mary Ann Maitland,Alice Moore McComas,Barbu Nemțeanu,Jane Lippitt Patterson,Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie,Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao,Abraham Valdelomar,Guido von List,Ella Wheeler Wilcox,Kazimierz Zalewski died in 1919 without having been nominated for the prize.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juhani Aho (1861–1921) |  Finland | novel, short story |
|
| 2 | John Galsworthy (1867–1933) |  Great Britain | novel, drama, essays, short story, memoir | Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931) |
| 3 | Ángel Guimerá Jorge (1845–1924) |  Spain | drama, poetry | unnamed nominator |
| 4 | Per Hallström (1866–1960) |  Sweden | short story, drama, poetry | Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931) |
| 5 | Arno Holz (1863–1929) |  Germany | poetry, drama, essays | 40 German authors |
| 6 | Ebenezer Howard (1850–1928) | Great Britain | essays | Christen Collin (1857–1926) |
| 7 | Alois Jirásek (1851–1930) |  Czechoslovakia | novel, drama | Czech Academy of Sciences |
| 8 | Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931) | Sweden | poetry |
|
| 9 | Hans Ernst Kinck (1865–1926) |  Norway | philology, novel, short story, drama, essays |
|
| 10 | Władysław Reymont (1867–1925) |  Poland | novel, short story | Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 11 | Carl Spitteler (1845–1924) |  Switzerland | poetry, essays |  Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940) |
| 12 | Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929) |  Austria | novel, poetry, drama, essays | Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) |
The members of theSwedish Academy voted that the 1919 Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to the Swedish poetErik Axel Karlfeldt. But Karlfeldt promptly declined the prize, explaining that he could not accept it because of his position as the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. Although the Academy wanted to award him, Karlfeldts reasons for not accepting the prize he was offered was met with admiration from his colleagues in the Academy.[11] Shortly after his death, Karlfeldt was posthumously awarded the1931 Nobel Prize in Literature.[11]
After Karlfeldt's refusal, the prize decision for the 1919 prize was postponed to the following year when the Academy decided to award the Swiss poetCarl Spitteler.
The choice of Carl Spitteler was seen as a surprise. "The Swedish Academy has awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1919 to the Swiss poet Carl Spitteler, of Lucerne, and for 1920 to the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun. The latter choice has been fully expected and is generally approved. But much astonishment is felt as to the former", the London newspaperThe Times reported in an article after the prize announcements in 1920. The English novelist and poetThomas Hardy had been expected to win the prize, and two Swedish newspapers were quoted criticizing the Swedish Academy for ignoring Hardy.[12]
