1943 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1943 Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded due to the ongoing Second World War. 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.The Nobel Prize in Literature 1943 nobelprize.org 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.Nomination archive – 1943 nobelprize.org

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.

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. Nominee Country Genre(s) 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) poetry, 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, essays14Enrique Larreta (1875–1961) history, essays, drama, novelAnders Österling (1884–1981)15Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957) poetryHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)16Charles Langbridge Morgan (1894–1958) drama, novel, essays, poetrySigfrid Siwertz (1882–1970)17Carlos María Ocantos (1860–1949)novel, short story, essaysSalvador Bermúdez de Castro (1863–1945)18John Steinbeck (1902–1968) novel, 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)

Prize decision For the 1943 Nobel Prize in Literature, Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, Danish author Johannes V. Jensen and French poet and essayist Paul Valéry were proposed by members the Nobel committee, but no prize was awarded in 1943. Subsequently, Johannes V. Jensen was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Literature and Gabriela Mistral awarded the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature.

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