1934 Nobel Prize in Literature

20px 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature Luigi Pirandello Swedish Academy 1901 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1934/summary/ 1934 laureate Luigi Pirandello 1932.jpg "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art." 8 November 1934http://libris.kb.se/bib/8345517 Nobelpriset i litteratur. Nomineringar och utlåtanden 1901–1950 Bo Svensén 2001 Svenska Akademien 9789113010076 1 November 2025 (announcement) 10 December 1934 (ceremony) Stockholm, Sweden 1933 Nobel Prize in Literature 1935 The 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Italian dramatist Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art".https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1934/summary/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1934 nobelprize.org He is the third Italian recipient of the said prize.https://www.nytimes.com/1934/11/09/archives/luigi-pirandello-wins-nobel-prize-italian-playwrights-general.html Luigi Pirandello wins Nobel Prize; Italian Playwright's General Contribution to Literature Is Basis of Award 9 November 1934 The New York Times Laureate Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello was an Italian playwright, prose writer and poet. Pirandello wrote more than 100 short stories, 40 plays and seven novels, including The Late Mattia Pascal (1904). Regarded as a major figure in 20th-century theatre, his plays explore psychology, the ego and identity issues and paved the way for absurd theatre in the 1950s. Pirandello's first major play Right You Are (if You Think You Are) (1917) explored his lifelong subject of the relativity of truth. In the experimental metaplay Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) Pirandello contrasted art and life. It was followed by the tragedy Henry IV (1922). Other plays include Each in His Own Way (1924) and Tonight We Improvise (1930).https://www.britannica.com/summary/Luigi-Pirandello Luigi Pirandello summary britannica.com https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1934/pirandello/facts/ Luigi Pirandello - Facts nobelprize.org Nominations Luigi Pirandello had not been nominated for the prize before 1934, 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.https://www.svenskaakademien.se/nobelpriset/nomineringar-och-utlatanden-1901-1950 Nomineringar och utlåtanden 1901-1950 Svenska Akademien Swedish He was nominated only by 1909 Nobel laureate in Physics Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937), who serves as the President of Arts Class at the Royal Academy of Italy.https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show_people.php?id=7269 Nomination archive Luigi Pirandello 21 May 2024 nobelprize.org Other nominated authors in 1934 included António Correia de Oliveira, Eugene O'Neill (awarded in 1936), Roger Martin du Gard (awarded in 1937), Frans Eemil Sillanpää (awarded in 1939), Johannes V. Jensen (awarded in 1944), Karel Capek, Kostis Palamas, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Francisco García Calderón, Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício, Olav Duun and Upton Sinclair.https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/list.php?prize=4&year=1934 Nomination archive 1934 21 May 2024 nobelprize.org > The authors Mary Hunter Austin, Hermann Bahr, Safvet-beg Bašagić, Andrei Bely, Gheorghe Bogdan-Duică, Edward Bullough, Roger Fry, John Gray, Thomas Anstey Guthrie, Julian Hawthorne, Naitō Konan, Gustave Lanson, Julia Lopes de Almeida, Ferenc Móra, Erich Mühsam, Arthur Wing Pinero, Thorne Smith, Jakob Wassermann, Brand Whitlock and Paul Zarifopol died in 1934 without having been nominated for the prize. Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Nominator(s) Country 1 Joseph Bédier (1864–1938) Third French Republic France Henrik Schück (1855–1947) Sweden 2 Hayim Nahman Bialik (1873–1934) Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic RussiaMandatory Palestine Israel Joseph Klausner (1874–1958) Republic of Lithuania LithuaniaMandatory Palestine Israel 3 António Correia de Oliveira (1878–1960) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953) Sweden Alberto de Oliveira (1857–1937) Brazil Agostinho de Campos (1870–1944) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal Alfredo da Cunha (1863–1942) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal Luís da Cunha Gonçalves (1875–1956) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal 4 Karel Čapek (1890–1938) Czechoslovakia several professors Czechoslovakia 5 Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício (1884–1947) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal António Pereira Forjaz (1893–1972) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal Bento Carqueja (1860–1935) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugal 6 Olav Duun (1876–1939) Norway Jens Thiis (1870–1942) Norway Halvdan Koht (1873–1965) Norway Helga Eng (1875–1966) Norway 7 Manuel Gálvez (1882–1962) Argentina Leopoldo Díaz (1862–1947) Argentina 8 Francisco García Calderón Rey (1883–1953)notes garcia Francisco and Ventura García Calderón are brothers jointly nominated by for the prize. Peru 49 members of the Peruvian Society of Authorsnotes large A large number of nominations were made to nominated the García brothers by prominent people and authors (whose eligibility to make nominations was indeterminable) in Lima, Peru. Peru Louis Bertrand (1866–1941)his French Third Republic France 9 Ventura García Calderón (1886–1959)garcia Georges Dumas (1866–1946)notes his 15 nominations were made to nominated the García brothers by Latino-American authors living in France and French authors with interests and functions related to Hispanic-American Literature (écrivains Latino-Américains résidant en France et écrivains français rattachés par leurs sympathies et leurs fonctions aux lettres hispano-américaines). L. Bertrand and G. Dumas are included in the 15 nominations. French Third Republic France 13 professorshis French Third Republic France 10 Franz Karl Ginzkey (1871–1963) Austria Austrian Academy of Sciencesnotes Several other literary societies in Vienna, Austria. Austria 11 Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947) FinlandSweden 20px Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)notes ver Verner von Heidenstam suggests that the Prize be awarded with one half to either B. Gripenberg or J. Hemmer, and the other half to F. Sillanpää. Sweden 12 Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norway Olai Skulerud (1881–1963)notes olai E. Sundberg was O. Skulerud's second choice, if O. Hallesby was not eligible as a candidate. Norway 13 Jarl Hemmer (1893–1944) Finland 20px Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)ver Sweden 14 Hans Henrik Holm (1896–1980) Norway Alexander Seippel (1851–1938) Norway 15 Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950) Denmark Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen (1881–1977) Denmark 16 Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer (1878–1962) Austria Austrian Academy of Sciencesnotes E. Kolbenheyer was also nominated by professors from the University in Vienna, Austria, several of whom were eligible to make a nomination, based on the area of their professorships. Austria 17 Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958) Third French Republic France Torsten Fogelqvist (1880–1941) Sweden 18 Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) Second Spanish Republic Spain Per Hallström (1866–1960) Sweden 19 Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865–1941) Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Russia Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937) Sweden 20 Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953) United States 1912 Martin Lamm (1880–1950) Sweden 21 Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) Second Hellenic Republic Greece Frederik Poulsen (1876–1950) Denmark Harry Fett (1875–1962) Norway 22 Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Kingdom of Italy Italy 20px Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937) Kingdom of Italy Italy 23 Ramón Pérez de Ayala (1880–1962) Second Spanish Republic Spain professors of Spanish literaturenotes Professors of Spanish literature at universities in London, Dublin, Paris and the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. EnglandFrench Third Republic FranceIrish Free State Ireland Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) Second Spanish Republic Spain 24 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) British Raj India Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953) Sweden 25 Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935) United States 1912 Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953) Sweden 26 Ernest Roguin (1851–1939) Switzerland Edmond Rossier (1865–1945) Switzerland 27 Jean Schlumberger (1877–1968) French Third Republic France Torsten Fogelqvist (1880–1941) Sweden 28 Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) Finland Torsten Evert Karsten (1870–1942) Finland Yrjö Hirn (1870–1952) Finland Eemil Nestor Setälä (1864–1935) Finland Rafael Erich (1879–1946) Finland 20px Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940) Sweden 29 Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) United States 1912 Ferdinand Schiller (1864–1937) Nazi Germany GermanyEngland Robert Morss Lovett (1870–1956) United States 1912 William Ellery Leonard (1876–1944) United States 1912 Robert Herrick (1868–1938)notes The nominations from previous years (1932, 1933) were renewed. 800 nominations from all over the world were collected and sent together, by Ernest S. Greene (1864–1936), secretary of a committee in New York City. Among the nominators were members of the French and Spanish Academies, and professors (eligible to nominate) from several universities. United States 1912 30 Hermann Stehr (1864–1940) Nazi Germany Germany Hermann August Korff (1882–1963) Nazi Germany Germany 31 Ewald Sundberg (1886–1967) Norway Olai Skulerud (1881–1963)olai Norway 32 Tadeusz Zieliński (1859–1944) Second Polish Republic Poland 6 professors at University of Warsaw Second Polish Republic Poland Prize decision In their report to the Swedish Academy dated 27 September 1934, four members of the Nobel committee recommended that the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to Luigi Pirandello, particularly noting his plays as "a notable and independent attempt to renew the world of the stage" with "about half a dozen, from one point of view or another, remarkable, often ingenious works." The fifth committee member Henrik Schück disagreed and stated in a separate report: "I readily admit that Pirandello possesses considerable dramatic talent and a great facility for poetry, and that his plays possess something of the freshness of the literary sketch. But for my part, I cannot give him a higher rank than that of a skilled faiseur, whose plays may well reap a certain success on the stage for the moment, when they are new, but which will be forgotten quite soon, for the content of ideas is very meager, and purely poetically speaking, he is in my opinion not an author of the standards that the Nobel Foundation's statutes apparently intend." Schück instead proposed the American playwright Eugene O'Neill, who was subsequently awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature.Nobelpriset i litteratur. Nomineringar och utlåtanden 1920-1950 1934 Svensén, Bo Svenska Akademien 2001 On 8 November 1934 the Swedish Academy decided that that year's Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to Luige Pirandello "for his bold and ingenious revival of dramatic and scenic art". Notes Award ceremony speech At the award ceremony on 10 December 1934, Per Hallström, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy said: "The most remarkable feature of Pirandello’s art is his almost magical power to turn psychological analysis into good theatre. Usually the theatre requires human stereotypes; here the spirit is like a shadow, obscurity behind obscurity, and one cannot decide what is more or less central inside. Finally one racks his brains, for there is no centre. Everything is relative, nothing can be grasped completely, and yet the plays can sometimes seize, captivate, and charm even the great international public. This result is wholly paradoxical. As the author himself explained, it depends on the fact that his works «arise out of images taken from life which have passed through a filter of ideas and which hold me completely captive». It is the image which is fundamental, not, as many have believed, the abstract idea disguised afterwards by an image."https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1934/ceremony-speech/ Award ceremony speech nobelprize.org References External links Award ceremony speech Award ceremony video Category:Nobel Prize in Literature by year