The 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings."[1] She became the first woman and first Swede to be awarded the prize.
1909 Nobel Prize in Literature
Selma Lagerlöf
"in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings."
"Geijer, Tegnér, or Runeberg, to mention only them, could justly have laid claim to the Nobel Prize, and the development which these great men have started has grown to fuller bloom. But among the writers of the younger generation who have contributed so much to our literature, there is one name that enjoys the special splendour of a star of the first magnitude. In the works of Selma Lagerlöf we seem to recognize the purest and best features of our Great Swedish Mother."[2]
Selma Lagerlöf's authorship is deeply rooted in folk tales, legends, and stories from her home district in Värmland County, Sweden. Her début novel, Gösta Berling's Saga (1891), broke away from the then-prevailing realism and naturalism and is characterized by a vivid imagination. Even so, her works provide realistic depictions of people's circumstances, ideas, and social lives during the 19th-century religious revival. Lagerlöf wrote in prose and her stories characterized by a captivating descriptive power and their language by purity and clarity.[3] Among her significant novels include Jerusalem (1901–02), Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige ("The Wonderful Adventures of Nil", 1907), Körkarlen ("Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!", 1912), and The Ring of the Löwenskölds (1925–28).[4]
In 1909, Selma Lagerlöf was shortlisted alongside Maurice Maeterlinck and Émile Verhaeren.[citation needed] Committee chair Carl David af Wirsén yet again, knowing that Swinburne died months before the Nobel announcement, launched for Belgian writers Maeterlinck and Verhaeren.[citation needed] He regarded on Maeterlinck as "one of the finest writers in the continent" and praised his "brilliant compositions in works like The Blind and Pelléas and Mélisande, as was the same for Verhaeren's poetic oeuvres.[citation needed] But unfortunately, Wirsén failed to gain any support from other committee members. Hence, Lagerlöf was made the Nobel laureate.[8][page needed]
Reactionsedit
The choice of Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf as Nobel laureate in 1909 (for the "lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterizes her writings") followed fierce debate because of her writing style and subject matter, which broke literary decorums of the time.[9][10][11]
Award ceremonyedit
During Lagerlöf's acceptance speech, she remained humble and told a fantastic story of her father, as she 'visited him in heaven'. In the story, she asks her father for help with the debt she owes and her father explains the debt is from all the people who supported her throughout her career.[12][13] Lagerlöf explains that she remembered her father the moment she received the prize, saying:
"But then I thought of my father and felt a deep sorrow that he should no longer be alive, and that I could not go to him and tell him that I had been awarded the Nobel Prize. I knew that no one would have been happier than he to hear this. Never have I met anyone with his love and respect for the written word and its creators, and I wished that he could have known that the Swedish Academy had bestowed on me this great Prize. Yes, it was a deep sorrow to me that I could not tell him."[13]
In 1914, she also became a member of the Swedish Academy. For both the academy membership and her Nobel literature prize, she was the first woman to be so honored.[14] She became a nominator for Georg Brandes for the 1920 and 1922 Nobel prize.[5]
^ abThe nomination was made jointly by D. Patsopoulos and P. Karolidis.
^Wagner: Justice. Huit discours ("Justice: Eight Speeches", 1889), Sois un homme! Simples causeries sur la conduite de la vie ("Be a Man! Simple Discussions on How to Lead Life", 1889), Jeunesse ("Youth", 1895), Vie Simple ("Simple Life", 1895), L'âme des choses ("The Soul of Things", 1901), and Le long du chemin ("Along the Path", 1901)[7]
Referencesedit
^The Nobel Prize in Literature 1909 nobelprize.org
^Award ceremony speech by Claes Annerstedt nobelprize.org
^Asaid, Alan (25 September 2009). "Article (in Swedish): "Violent debate in the Academy when Lagerlöf was elected". 25 September 2009". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Svd.se. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
^Lindberg, Sebastian Nilsson. "Writer Portrait: Selma Lagerlöf". The Literary Magazine of Swedish Books and Writers. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
^"Våldsam debatt i Akademien när Lagerlöf valdes". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 25 September 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
^"Selma Lagerlöf: Surface and Depth". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
Award ceremony speech by Claes Annerstedt nobelprize.org
Nobel diploma nobelprize.org
Photo gallery nobelprize.org
October 27, 2023
1909, nobel, prize, literature, awarded, swedish, author, selma, lagerlöf, 1858, 1940, appreciation, lofty, idealism, vivid, imagination, spiritual, perception, that, characterize, writings, became, first, woman, first, swede, awarded, prize, selma, lagerlöf, . The 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Swedish author Selma Lagerlof 1858 1940 in appreciation of the lofty idealism vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings 1 She became the first woman and first Swede to be awarded the prize 1909 Nobel Prize in LiteratureSelma Lagerlof in appreciation of the lofty idealism vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings Date7 October 1909 announcement 10 December 1909 ceremony LocationStockholm SwedenPresented bySwedish AcademyFirst awarded1901WebsiteOfficial website 1908 Nobel Prize in Literature 1910 In his award ceremony speech on 10 December 1909 Claes Annerstedt of the Swedish Academy said Geijer Tegner or Runeberg to mention only them could justly have laid claim to the Nobel Prize and the development which these great men have started has grown to fuller bloom But among the writers of the younger generation who have contributed so much to our literature there is one name that enjoys the special splendour of a star of the first magnitude In the works of Selma Lagerlof we seem to recognize the purest and best features of our Great Swedish Mother 2 Contents 1 Laureate 2 Deliberations 2 1 Nominations 2 2 Prize decision 3 Reactions 4 Award ceremony 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksLaureate edit nbsp Cover of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils published 1906 and illustrated by Mary Hamilton Frye Main article Selma Lagerlof Selma Lagerlof s authorship is deeply rooted in folk tales legends and stories from her home district in Varmland County Sweden Her debut novel Gosta Berling s Saga 1891 broke away from the then prevailing realism and naturalism and is characterized by a vivid imagination Even so her works provide realistic depictions of people s circumstances ideas and social lives during the 19th century religious revival Lagerlof wrote in prose and her stories characterized by a captivating descriptive power and their language by purity and clarity 3 Among her significant novels include Jerusalem 1901 02 Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige The Wonderful Adventures of Nil 1907 Korkarlen Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness 1912 and The Ring of the Lowenskolds 1925 28 4 Deliberations editNominations edit Selma Lagerlof received 28 nominations since 1904 Her highest number of nominations 11 nominations were for the 1909 prize with which she was awarded eventually 5 In total the Nobel committee received 38 nominations including Angelo de Gubernatis Maurice Maeterlinck awarded in 1911 Iwan Gilkin and Jaroslav Vrchlicky Seven of the nominees were nominated for the first time including Ernest Lavisse Verner von Heidenstam awarded in 1916 Martin Greif and Emile Verhaeren 6 The authors Gustaf af Geijerstam Innokenty Annensky Jakub Bart Cisinski Rosa Nouchette Carey Euclides da Cunha John Davidson Amalia Domingo Soler George Manville Fenn Clyde Fitch Jacob Gordin Sarah Orne Jewett Cesare Lombroso Luis Alfredo Martinez Clorinda Matto de Turner Catulle Mendes Alfredo Oriani Signe Rink John Millington Synge Renee Vivien Rudolf von Gottschall Detlev von Liliencron Ernst von Wildenbruch and Egerton Ryerson Young died in 1909 without having been nominated for the prize Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No Nominee Country Genre s Nominator s 1 Paul Bourget 1852 1935 nbsp France novel short story literary criticism essays Rene Bazin 1853 1932 2 Borden Parker Bowne 1847 1910 nbsp United States philosophy theology essays Henry MacCracken 1840 1918 3 Francesco D Ovidio 1849 1925 nbsp Italy philology literary criticism Ernesto Monaci 1844 1918 4 Angelo de Gubernatis 1840 1913 nbsp Italy drama essays philology poetry Angelo Valdarnini 1847 1930 Gaspare Finali 1829 1914 Paolo Boselli 1838 1932 Francesco Lorenzo Pulle 1850 1934 5 Eugene Melchior de Vogue 1848 1910 nbsp France essays literary criticism Albert Vandal 1853 1910 6 Anatole France 1844 1924 nbsp France poetry essays drama novel literary criticism Paul Hervieu 1857 1915 7 Iwan Gilkin a 1858 1924 nbsp Belgium poetry Ernest Discailles 1837 1914 8 Martin Greif 1839 1911 nbsp Germany poetry drama 20 professors from Breslau Prague Leipzig Liege Innsbruck etc 9 Angel Guimera Jorge 1845 1924 nbsp Spain drama poetry 18 members of the Reial Academia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona10 Selma Lagerlof 1858 1940 nbsp Sweden novel short story Ewert Wrangel 1863 1940 Otto Sylwan 1864 1954 Gustav Cederschiold 1849 1928 Ludvig Stavenow 1864 1950 Johan Vising 1855 1942 Frits Laffler 1847 1921 Erik Brate 1857 1924 Eugene Lewenhaupt 1849 1927 Axel Olrik 1864 1917 Karl Johan Warburg 1852 1918 Hans Lange 1884 1960 Fredrik Wulff 1845 1930 Adolf Noreen 1854 1925 Gottfrid Billing 1841 1925 Claes Annerstedt 1839 1927 Harald Hjarne 1848 1922 Vitalis Norstrom 1856 1916 Waldemar Rudin 1833 1921 Albert Theodor Gellerstedt 1836 1914 Karl Alfred Melin 1849 1919 Carl Carlson Bonde 1850 1913 11 Ernest Lavisse 1842 1922 nbsp France history Frederic Masson 1847 1923 12 Salvador Rueda Santos 1857 1933 nbsp Spain poetry essays 4 professors of the Complutense University of Madrid13 Maurice Maeterlinck 1862 1949 nbsp Belgium drama poetry essays Ernest Discailles 1837 1914 Belgian professors and Academy members14 John Morley 1838 1923 nbsp Great Britain biography literary criticism essays 8 members of the British Society of Authors15 Georgios Souris 1853 1919 nbsp Greece poetry songwriting Pavlos Karolidis b 1849 1930 Dimitrios Patsopoulos b members of the Parnassos Literary Society16 Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 1909 nbsp Great Britain poetry drama literary criticism novel 31 members of the British Society of AuthorsCarl Bildt 1850 1931 17 Emile Verhaeren 1855 1916 nbsp Belgium poetry essays Ernest Discailles 1837 1914 Belgian professors and Academy members18 Charles Wagner c 1852 1918 nbsp France theology philosophy Bernard Bouvier 1861 1941 19 Verner von Heidenstam 1859 1940 nbsp Sweden novel short story poetry Carl Carlson Bonde 1850 1913 20 Jaroslav Vrchlicky 1853 1912 nbsp Austria Hungary nbsp Czechoslovakia poetry drama translation Arnost Kraus 1859 1943 21 Alexandru Dimitrie Xenopol 1847 1920 nbsp Romania history philosophy essays Ion Găvănescu 1859 1949 Prize decision edit In 1909 Selma Lagerlof was shortlisted alongside Maurice Maeterlinck and Emile Verhaeren citation needed Committee chair Carl David af Wirsen yet again knowing that Swinburne died months before the Nobel announcement launched for Belgian writers Maeterlinck and Verhaeren citation needed He regarded on Maeterlinck as one of the finest writers in the continent and praised his brilliant compositions in works like The Blind and Pelleas and Melisande as was the same for Verhaeren s poetic oeuvres citation needed But unfortunately Wirsen failed to gain any support from other committee members Hence Lagerlof was made the Nobel laureate 8 page needed Reactions editThe choice of Swedish writer Selma Lagerlof as Nobel laureate in 1909 for the lofty idealism vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterizes her writings followed fierce debate because of her writing style and subject matter which broke literary decorums of the time 9 10 11 Award ceremony editDuring Lagerlof s acceptance speech she remained humble and told a fantastic story of her father as she visited him in heaven In the story she asks her father for help with the debt she owes and her father explains the debt is from all the people who supported her throughout her career 12 13 Lagerlof explains that she remembered her father the moment she received the prize saying But then I thought of my father and felt a deep sorrow that he should no longer be alive and that I could not go to him and tell him that I had been awarded the Nobel Prize I knew that no one would have been happier than he to hear this Never have I met anyone with his love and respect for the written word and its creators and I wished that he could have known that the Swedish Academy had bestowed on me this great Prize Yes it was a deep sorrow to me that I could not tell him 13 In 1914 she also became a member of the Swedish Academy For both the academy membership and her Nobel literature prize she was the first woman to be so honored 14 She became a nominator for Georg Brandes for the 1920 and 1922 Nobel prize 5 Notes edit Gilkin Promethee Prometheus 1897 7 a b The nomination was made jointly by D Patsopoulos and P Karolidis Wagner Justice Huit discours Justice Eight Speeches 1889 Sois un homme Simples causeries sur la conduite de la vie Be a Man Simple Discussions on How to Lead Life 1889 Jeunesse Youth 1895 Vie Simple Simple Life 1895 L ame des choses The Soul of Things 1901 and Le long du chemin Along the Path 1901 7 References edit The Nobel Prize in Literature 1909 nobelprize org Award ceremony speech by Claes Annerstedt nobelprize org Selma Lagerlof Facts nobelprize org Selma Lagerlof britannica com a b Nomination archive Selma Lagerlof nobelprize org Nomination archive 1909 nobelprize org a b Svensen Bo 2001 Nobelpriset i litteratur Nomineringar och utlatanden 1901 1950 ISBN 9789113010076 Retrieved 11 November 2020 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help Gustav Kallstrand Andens Olympiska Spel Nobelprisets historia Fri Tanke 2021 Asaid Alan 25 September 2009 Article in Swedish Violent debate in the Academy when Lagerlof was elected 25 September 2009 Svenska Dagbladet in Swedish Svd se Retrieved 21 May 2021 Lindberg Sebastian Nilsson Writer Portrait Selma Lagerlof The Literary Magazine of Swedish Books and Writers Retrieved 21 May 2021 Valdsam debatt i Akademien nar Lagerlof valdes Svenska Dagbladet in Swedish 25 September 2009 Retrieved 21 May 2021 Selma Lagerlof Surface and Depth The Public Domain Review Retrieved 21 May 2021 a b Banquet speech nobelprize org Rines George Edwin ed 1920 Lagerlof Ottilia Lovisa Selma Encyclopedia Americana External links editAward ceremony speech by Claes Annerstedt nobelprize org Nobel diploma nobelprize org Photo gallery nobelprize org Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature amp oldid 1168860059, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
