The 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought." He is the third philosopher to become a recipient of the prize after the German philosopher Rudolf Christoph Eucken in 1908 and the French analytic-continental philosopher Henri Bergson in 1927, and the fifth British author to be awarded.
Laureate
Bertrand Russell made his first pioneering contributions within the branch of philosophy that deals with logic and mathematics. But his influence eventually spread across much more ground.Bertrand Russell – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu His work is known for its lightheartedness and humor, and it has helped a large audience of readers learn about science and philosophy. His writings cover a variety of subjects, including social and moral challenges, and his opinions were frequently divisive. Russell was a fierce champion of the right to free speech and thinking as well as a strong supporter of reason and humanism. His most famous philosophical works include Principia Mathematica (1910–1913), The Problems of Philosophy (1912), Why I Am Not a Christian (1927), Power: A New Social Analysis (1938), and A History of Western Philosophy (1945).Bertrand Russell – Facts nobelprize.orgBertrand Russell britannica.com
Deliberations Nominations Russell had not been nominated for the prize before 1950, making it one of the rare occasions when an author have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year they were first nominated. He was only nominated once by nominator Eugen Tigerstedt (1907–1979), professor of Swedish literature at the University of Helsinki.
In total, the Nobel committee received 79 nominations for 54 writers. Pär Lagerkvist (awarded in 1951) received seven nominations and was named a favorite following the publication of his novel Barabbas,Håkan Möller "Pär Lagerkvist, Barabbas and the Nobel Prize for Literature" Journal of World Literature 1 2016, p.505 while Winston Churchill (awarded in 1953) received six nominations. Twenty of the nominees were nominated first-time such as Simon Vestdijk, Graham Greene, Mika Waltari, Martin Buber, Robert Frost, Karl Jaspers, Alfred Noyes, John Dewey, Hermann Broch, and Robert Graves. Four of the nominees were women namely Karen Blixen, Marie Under, Gertrud von Le Fort, and Henriette Roland Holst. The American author William Faulkner was nominated in 1950 and was awarded for last year.Nomination archive – 1950 nobelprize.org
The authors Edgar Rice Burroughs, Augusto d'Halmar, Albert Ehrenstein, John Gould Fletcher, Nicolai Hartmann, George Cecil Ives, Alfred Korzybski, Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, Elisabeth Langgässer, Marcel Mauss, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Emmanuel Mounier, Cesare Pavese, Ernest Poole, Hilda D. Oakeley, George Orwell, Alykul Osmonov, Rafael Sabatini, Agnes Smedley, Olaf Stapledon, Xavier Villaurrutia, and Yi Gwangsu (nominated posthumously in 1970) died in 1950 without having been nominated.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Mark Aldanov (1886–1957)()biography, novel, essays, literary criticism Ivan Bunin (1870–1953)2Eugène Baie (1874–1964) law, essaysPaul Saintenoy (1862–1952)3Karen Blixen (1885–1962) novel, short story, memoirCai Woel (1895–1963)4Jacobus Cornelis Bloem (1887–1966)poetry, essaysVictor Emanuel van Vriesland (1892–1974)5Hermann Broch (1886–1951)novel, essaysThe Austrian PEN-Club6Martin Buber (1878–1965)philosophy Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)7Albert Camus (1913–1960) novel, short story, essays, philosophy, dramaGustaf Hellström (1882–1953)8Hans Carossa (1878–1956) poetry, autobiography, essaysAxel Lindqvist (1873–1953)9Winston Churchill (1874–1965) history, essays, memoir10Paul Claudel (1868–1955)poetry, drama, essays, memoir11Benedetto Croce (1866–1952) history, philosophy, law12Júlio Dantas (1876–1962)poetry, drama, novel, essaysLisbon Academy of Sciences13John Dewey (1859–1952)philosophy, pedagogy, essaysHenry Steele Commager (1902–1998)14Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism15Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) novel, short story, essays16William Faulkner (1897–1962)novel, short story, screenplay, poetry, essaysPrince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland (1884–1965)17Robert Frost (1874–1963) poetry, dramaAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters18Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticismEnglish PEN Centre19Robert Graves (1895–1985) history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essaysHarry Martinson (1904–1978)20Graham Greene (1904–1991) novel, short story, autobiography, essays21Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) novel, short story, screenplayAnders Österling (1884–1981)22Taha Hussein (1889–1973) novel, short story, poetry, translationBernard Guyon (1904–1975)23Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) novel, philosophy, essays, drama, memoir, translationHjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961)24Karl Jaspers (1883–1969)philosophyErnst Levy (1881–1968)25Johannes Jørgensen (1866–1956)novel, poetry, biographyCai Woel (1895–1963)26Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974) poetry, novel, short story, drama27Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) novel, short story, drama, poetry28Enrique Larreta (1875–1961)history, essays, drama, novel29Leonid Leonov (1899–1994) drama, novel, short storyValentin Kiparsky (1904–1983)30Lin Yutang (1895–1976)novel, philosophy, essays, translation Pearl Buck (1892–1973)31François Mauriac (1885–1970) novel, short story32Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) philology, historyGunnar Tilander (1894–1973)33Martin Andersen Nexø (1869–1954) novel, short story34Alfred Noyes (1880–1958)poetry, drama, essays, biography, novel, short story, literary criticismFrederick Samuel Boas (1862–1957)35Seán O'Casey (1880–1964) drama, memoir 36Arnulf Øverland (1889–1968) poetry, essaysCai Woel (1895–1963)37Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) poetry, novel, translationMartin Lamm (1880–1950)38Edward Plunkett (1878–1957)short story, novel, drama, poetry, essays, history, autobiographyIrish PEN Centre39Thomas Head Raddall (1903–1994)novel, short story, history, essays, memoirWill Richard Bird (1891–1984)40Henriette Roland Holst (1869–1952)poetry, essays, biographyVictor Emanuel van Vriesland (1892–1974)41Jules Romains (1885–1972) poetry, drama, screenplay42Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)philosophy, essays, historyEugen Tigerstedt (1907–1979)43Jean Schlumberger (1877–1968) poetry, essaysFrench Centre – PEN International44Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) novelValentin Kiparsky (1904–1983)45Angelos Sikelianos (1884–1951) poetry, drama46Leopold Staff (1878–1957)poetry, translationJan Parandowski (1895–1978)47Albert Steffen (1884–1963)poetry, essays, drama, novelKersti Bergroth (1886–1975)48Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969) novel, short storyFranz De Backer (1891–1961)49Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889–1975) history, philosophyFredrik Böök (1883–1961)50Marie Under (1883–1980) ()poetryJohannes Aavik (1880–1973)51Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) poetry, novelOlav Midttun (1883–1972)52Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) novel, poetry, essays, translationVictor Emanuel van Vriesland (1892–1974)53Gertrud von Le Fort (1876–1971) novel, short story, essays, poetry Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)54Mika Waltari (1908–1979) short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplay
Prize decision In 1950, the Nobel committee's shortlisted candidates were Bertrand Russell, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene and the Greek writers Angelos Sikelianos and Nikos Kazantzakis for a proposed shared prize. The committee unanimously proposed that Bertrand Russell should be awarded the prize for 1950. In the committee's report to the Swedish Academy, committee chairman Anders Österling wrote that Russell "should be given a definite priority both because of his superior intellectual equipment and his far-reaching influence as a modern Enlightenment philosopher (...) Through his liberal humanism, Russell also seems to me to correspond in the best sense precisely to the wishes and the way of thinking that guided Alfred Nobel when he established his prizes."
For the reserved 1949 prize, the Nobel committee proposed William Faulkner, a shared prize to Sikeleanos and Kazantzakis and Pär Lagerkvist (subsequently awarded the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature).
On 10 November 1950, the Swedish Academy decided the prize for 1949 should be awarded to William Faulkner and the prize for 1950 to Bertrand Russell.
Award Ceremony During the award ceremony held at Stockholm City Hall on 10 December 1950, Anders Österling of the Swedish Academy, said:
Nobel lecture Russell delivered a Nobel lecture entitled "What Desires Are Politically Important?" at the Swedish Academy on 11 December 1950. The lecture addresses the political ramifications of desires that are considered infinite in their ability to be satisfied but not necessary for immediate human survival.1950 Nobel lecture nobelprize.org He highly stressed the importance of neutral and socially beneficial venues for the venting of passions and suggests the cultivation of intelligence as the best antidote for social strife.
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References
External links Award Ceremony speech The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 1950 video nobelprize.org