The 1926

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

was awarded to the Italian author

Grazia Deledda Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda (; or Gràtzia Deledda ; 27 September 1871 – 15 August 1936) was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity p ...

"for her idealistically inspired writings, which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1926
nobelprize.org She was the second Italian and second female Nobel laureate in literature.

Laureate

Grazia Deledda wrote a large collection of novels, short stories, articles, stage plays, and poems. After the publication of her first novel ''Fior de Sardegna'' ("The Flower of Sardinia") in 1891, which was followed by ''Elias Portolu'' in 1900, Deledda gained widespread recognition and praise around the world. Due to the old traditions with deep historical roots that formed Deledda's upbringing and the unfortunate outcomes of her family members, she developed a strong sense of destiny. Her works frequently deal with themes like uncontrollable forces, moral quandaries, passion, and human frailty. Among her oeuvres that earned her prominence in literature include '' Dopo il divorzio'' ("After the Divorce", 1902), '' L'edera'' ("Ivy", 1908), '' Canne al vento'' ("Reeds in the Wind", 1913), and ''La Fuga in Egitto'' ("The Flight into Egypt", 1925).

Deliberations

Nominations

Deledda was not nominated in 1926 but in 1927.Nomination archive – Literature 1926
/ref> She received 18 nominations in total beginning in 1913 with the recommendations of

Luigi Luzzatti Luigi Luzzatti (; 11 March 1841 – 29 March 1927) was an Italian financier, political economist, social philosopher, and jurist. He served as the 20th prime minister of Italy between 1910 and 1911. Luzzatti came from a wealthy and cultured Jew ...

(1841–1927) and

Ferdinando Martini Ferdinando Martini (30 July 1840 – 24 April 1928) was an Italian writer and politician. He was governor of Eritrea for from late 1897 to early 1907. Biography Born in Florence, he worked as journalist and writer. He collaborated with '' Il F ...

(1840–1928). In

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

, she was nominated by academy member and literary historian

Henrik Schück Henrik Schück (2 November 1855 – 3 October 1947) was a Swedish literary historian, university professor and author. Biography Johan Henrik Emil Schück was a professor at the Lund University 1890–1898. He was a professor at Uppsala Univers ...

(1855–1947) after which she was eventually awarded. In total, the

Nobel Committee A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are six awarding committees from four institutions, one for each Nobel Prize. Five of these committees are working bodies ...

received 37 nominations for 29 authors including

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

(awarded for

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

Willem Kloos Willem Johannes Theodorus Kloos (; 6 May 1859 – 31 March 1938) was a nineteenth-century Dutch poet and literary critic. He was one of the prominent figures of the Movement of Eighty and became editor in chief of '' De Nieuwe Gids'' after the e ...

, Rudolf Maria Holzapfel and

James George Frazer Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folkloristJosephson-Storm (2017), Chapter 5. influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. ...

. Sixteen of the nominees were newly nominated such as

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

Avetis Aharonian Avetis Aharonian (; 4 January 1866 – 20 March 1948) was an Armenian politician, writer, public figure and revolutionary, also part of the Armenian national movement. Biography Aharonian was born in 1866 in Surmali, Erivan Governorate, R ...

Sofía Casanova Sofía Casanova (30 September 1861 – 16 January 1958) (formally in , ) was a poet, novelist, and journalist, the first Spanish woman to become a permanent correspondent in a foreign country and a war correspondent. She was a cultured woman, we ...

Vicente Huidobro Vicente García-Huidobro Fernández (; January 10, 1893 – January 2, 1948) was a Chilean poet born to an aristocracy, aristocratic family. He promoted the avant-garde literary movement in Chile and was the creator and greatest exponent of t ...

, Concha Espina de la Serna (with the highest number of nominations),

Edvard Westermarck Edvard Alexander Westermarck (20 November 1862 in Helsinki – 3 September 1939 in Tenala) was a Finnish philosopher and sociologist. Among other subjects, he studied exogamy and the incest taboo. Biography Westermarck was born in 1862 in a w ...

Ada Negri Ada Negri (3 February 187011 January 1945) was an Italian poet and writer. She was the only woman to be admitted to the Academy of Italy. Biography Ada Negri was born in Lodi, Italy on 3 February 1870. Her father, Giuseppe Negri, was a coachm ...

Juan Zorrilla de San Martín Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (28 December 1855 – 3 November 1931) was an Uruguayan epic poet and political figure. He is referred to as the "National Poet of Uruguay". Well-known poems Two of Zorrilla's best-known poems are '' Tabaré'' ...

, Karl Kraus, J.-H. Rosny aîné,

Johannes Jørgensen Jens Johannes Jørgensen (6 November 1866, in Svendborg – 29 May 1956) was a Danish writer, best known for his biographies of Catholic saints. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Early days Johannes Jørgensen was ...

and

Kostis Palamas Kostis Palamas (; ; – 27 February 1943) was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School (or Pala ...

. Four of the nominees were women:

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset (; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Danish people, Danish-born Norwegian people, Norwegian novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928. Born in Den ...

(awarded in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

), Ada Negri, Concha Espina de la Serna, and Sofía Casanova. The authors

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly inf ...

René Boylesve René Boylesve (; 14 April 1867 in La Haye-Descartes – 14 January 1926 in Paris), born René Marie Auguste Tardiveau (), was a French writer and a literary critic. Biography Boylesve was orphaned early and went to school in Poitiers and Tour ...

Ada Cambridge Ada Cambridge (21 November 1844 – 19 July 1926), later known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian writer. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two Autobiography, autobiographical works.Cato (1989) p. v ...

Javier de Viana Javier de Viana is a town in the Artigas Department of northern Uruguay. It was named after the Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and so ...

, Fran Detela,

Lyubov Dostoevskaya Lyubov Fyodorovna Dostoevskaya (; 14 September 1869 – 10 November 1926), also known by the name Aimée Dostoyevskaya, was a Russian writer and memoirist. Personal life She was the second daughter of famous writer Fyodor Dostoevsky and his ...

Sarah Doudney Sarah Doudney (15 January 1841, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire – 8 December 1926, Oxford)Charlotte Mitchell"Doudney, Sarah (1841–1926)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2005, re ...

Sigrid Elmblad Sigrid Agneta Sofia Elmblad, born Sigrid Agneta Sofia Pettersson, (28 May 1860 – 23 May 1926) was a Swedish journalist, poet, translator and writer, who translated ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (''The Ring of the Nibelung'') into Swedish and prod ...

Ronald Firbank Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank (17 January 1886 – 21 May 1926) was an innovative English novelist. His eight short novels, partly inspired by the London aesthetes of the 1890s, especially Oscar Wilde, consist largely of dialogue, with referen ...

Dmitry Furmanov Dmitriy Andreyevich Furmanov (; – 15 March 1926) was a Russian writer, revolutionary and military officer. Biography He was born to a peasant family. For three years, he attended the Realschule in Kineshma. It was there that he developed ...

Juan Silvano Godoi Juan Silvano Godoi (November 12, 1850 – January 1926) was a librarian and intellectual at the time of the Paraguayan national reconstruction. Childhood and studies He was born in Asuncion on November 12, 1850. He was the son of the Colonel ...

John Burland Harris-Burland John Burland Harris-Burland (1870-1926) was a British writer, known for his early fantasy stories. He was born on 1 November 1870 at Aldershot, Hampshire, son of Major General William Burland Harris-Burland (1835-1890), decorated for his part ...

, Rose Hawthorne,

Ellen Key Ellen Karolina Sofia Key (; 11 December 1849 – 25 April 1926) was a Swedes, Swedish difference feminist writer on many subjects in the fields of family life, ethics and education and was an important figure in the Modern Breakthrough movement. S ...

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and ...

Helena Nyblom Helena Nyblom (7 December 1843 – 9 October 1926) was a Denmark, Danish-Sweden, Swedish children's story author. She is perhaps most remembered for ''The Swan Suit.'' at www.bpib.com She died in Stockholm. Biography Helena was born in Copenh ...

Karel Václav Rais Karel Václav Rais (January 4, 1859 – July 8, 1926) was a Czech realist novelist, author of the so-called ''country prose'', numerous books for youth and children, and several poems. Biography Rais was born into the family of a simple farm ...

Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Born on 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria, Jean Richepin was the son of an army doctor. At school and at the École Normale ...

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

Albert Robida Albert Robida (14 May 1848 – 11 October 1926) was a French illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, and novelist. He edited and published '' La Caricature'' magazine for 12 years. Through the 1880s, he wrote an acclaimed trilogy of fut ...

Radu Rosetti Radu Rosetti (Francization, Francized ''Rodolphe Rosetti''; September 14, 1853 – February 12, 1926) was a Moldavian, later Romanian, politician, historian, and novelist, father of General Radu R. Rosetti, and a prominent member of the Rosetti f ...

August Sedláček August Sedláček (28 August 1843 – 15 January 1926) was a Czech people, Czech historian and archivist. Sedláček was born in Mladá Vožice, Bohemia. Notably, he worked in medieval history, detailing the history of Medieval castles in the ...

Ågot Gjems Selmer Ågot Gjems Selmer, also Ågot Gjems-Selmer, (27 October 1857 – 25 September 1926) was a Norwegian actress, writer, and lecturer. Early life and education Gjems-Selmer was born into a wealthy family in Kongsvinger Municipality, Norway. She was ...

and Carl Nicolai Starcke died in 1926 without having been nominated for the prize.

Prize decision

Deledda received her 1926 award one year later, in 1927. The Swedish Academy announced in November 1926 that no Nobel Prize in Literature would be awarded with the following explanation: The postponed prize for 1925 was awarded to

. Certain about a rumour that the Norwegian author

Olav Duun Olav Duun (21 November 1876 – 13 September 1939) was a writer of Norwegian fiction. He is generally recognized to be one of the more outstanding writers in Norwegian literature. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-fo ...

was going to be awarded the prize in 1926, the Norwegian newspaper ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'' wrongly announced Duun as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature on their front page on 11 November 1926 before the Swedish Academy's announcement of Shaw as the winner later that day, which was a publication scandal in Norway. Duun lost out to Shaw with just one vote.

Notes

References

External links

DocumentaryArticle by Anders Hallengren
{{Nobel Prize in Literature

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

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