1937 Nobel Prize in Literature

20px 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature Roger Martin du Gard Swedish Academy 1901 https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1937/summary/ 1937 laureate Roger Martin du Gard 1937.jpg "for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les Thibault." 11 November 1937http://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 1937 (ceremony) Stockholm, Sweden 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature 1938 The 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French author Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958) "for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les Thibault".https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1937/summary/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1937 nobelprize.org Laureate Roger Martin du Gard Roger Martin du Gard was awarded for the then seven-part (a final eight part was later published) novel cycle Les Thibault (1922-1940), that chronicles a family of the bourgeoisie from the turn of the 19th century to World War I. His other work includes the novel Jean Barois (1913) that deals with the conflict between the Roman catholic faith of his childhood and the scientific materialism of his maturity and the impact of the Dreyfus affair on the protagonist, sketches of French country life in Vielle France ("Old France", 1933), a study of the author and his friend André Gide (Notes sur André Gide, 1951), and dramas.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roger-Martin-du-Gard Roger Martin du Gard britannica.com 190px|thumb|left|Du Gard's Les Thibault (1922–1940) Les Thibault The multi-volume roman-fleuve Les Thibault influenced the Nobel Committee in awarding Du Gard the 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature. It follows intricately the fortunes of two brothers, Antoine and Jacques Thibault, from their upbringing in a prosperous Catholic bourgeois family to the end of the First World War. The novel was admired by authors like André Gide, Albert Camus, Clifton Fadiman, and Georg Lukacs. In contrast, Mary McCarthy called it "a work whose learned obtuseness is, so far as I know, unequaled in fiction."The New Republic, 26 April 1939 Deliberations Nominations Roger Martin du Gard had been nominated for the prize five times since 1934.https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show_people.php?id=5951 Nomination archive - Roger Martin du Gard 21 May 2024 In 1937, the Nobel committee received 62 nominations for 37 writers including Frans Emil Sillanpää (awarded in 1939), Paul Valéry, Paul Claudel, Kostis Palamas, António Correia de Oliveira, Bertel Gripenberg, Karel Capek and Georges Duhamel. Fourteen were newly nominated such as Stijn Streuvels, Jean Giono, Johan Falkberget, Valdemar Rørdam and Albert Verwey. Most nominations were submitted for the Danish author Johannes V. Jensen (awarded in 1944) with seven nominations. There were seven female nominees namely Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício, Ricarda Huch, Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Maila Talvio, Maria Jotuni, Cecile Tormay and Sally Salminen.https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/list.php?prize=4&year=1937 Nomination archive April 2020 nobelprize.org The authors Lou Andreas-Salomé, J. M. Barrie, Ellis Parker Butler, Aleksey Chapygin, Ralph Connor, Francis de Croisset, Alberto de Oliveira, John Drinkwater, Florence Dugdale, Edward Garnett, Antonio Gramsci, Frances Nimmo Greene, Ivor Gurney, Elizabeth Haldane, Élie Halévy, W. F. Harvey, Ilya Ilf, Attila József, H. P. Lovecraft, Don Marquis, H. C. McNeile, Dashdorjiin Natsagdorj, Rudolf Otto, Mittie Frances Point (known as Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller), Horacio Quiroga, Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo and Yevgeny Zamyatin died in 1937 without having been nominated for the prize. The Dutch poet Albert Verwey died before the only chance to be rewarded. Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1René Béhaine (1880–1966) French Third Republic Francenovel, short story, essays Charles Bruneau (1883–1969) Émile Lasbax (1888–1966) François Dumas (1861–1948)2Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (1874–1938) Kingdom of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia(Croatia) novel, short storyAlbert Bazala (1877–1947) Gavro Manojlović (1856–1939)3Paul Claudel (1868–1955) French Third Republic Francepoetry, drama, essays, memoirPeter Hjalmar Rokseth (1891–1945)4António Correia de Oliveira (1878–1960) Estado Novo (Portugal) PortugalpoetryLuís da Cunha Gonçalvez (1875–1956)5Karel Čapek (1890–1938) Czechoslovakiadrama, novel, short story, essays, literary criticismJosef Šusta (1874–1945)notes Karel Čapek was also nominated by 9 other professors of history or literature at Prague University.6Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício (1884–1947) Estado Novo (Portugal) Portugalpoetry, essaysAntónio Baião (1878–1961)7Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958)French Third Republic Francenovel, drama, memoirTorsten Fogelqvist (1880–1941)8Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) French Third Republic Francenovel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticismHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953) Torsten Fogelqvist (1880–1941)9Olav Duun (1876–1939) Norwaynovel, short storyHelga Eng (1875–1966)10Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) Norwaynovel, short story, essaysFredrik Paasche (1886–1943)11Jean Giono (1895–1970) French Third Republic Francenovel, short story, essays, poetry, dramaLéon Wencelius (1900–1971)notes Several thousand other nominations of Jean Giono were by ineligible nominators. Marcel Cohen (1884–1974)12Bertel Gripenberg (1878–1947) FinlandSwedenpoetry, drama, essaysMagnus Hammarström (1893–1941)13Vilhelm Grønbech (1873–1948) Denmarkhistory, essays, poetryWilliam Norvin (1878–1940)14Jarl Hemmer (1893–1944) Finlandpoetry, novelHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)15Ricarda Huch (1864–1947) Nazi Germany Germanyhistory, essays, novel, poetryHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953) Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) Fritz Strich (1882–1963) 27 professorsnotes 27 professors from the universities of Bern, Basel, Geneva and Zürich in Switzerland, and Groningen, Netherlands.16Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950) Denmarknovel, short story, essaysVilhelm Andersen (1864–1953) Peter Skautrup (1896–1982) Ernst Frandsen (1894–1952) Francis Bull (1887–1974) Jens Thiis (1870–1942) Johannes Brøndum-Nielsen (1881–1977) Carl Adolf Bodelsen (1894–1978)17Maria Jotuni (1880–1943)Finlanddrama, novel, short story, essaysViljo Tarkiainen (1879–1951)18Ludwig Klages (1872–1956)Nazi Germany Germanyphilosophy, poetry, essaysWilhelm Pinder (1878–1947)19Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer (1878–1962)Federal State of Austria Austrianovel, short story, poetry, dramaHeinz Kindermann (1894–1985)20Maurice Magre (1877–1941)French Third Republic Francenovel, poetry, dramaJules Marsan (1867–1939) Joseph Gheusi (1870–1950)21Bijay Chandra Majumdar (1861–1942)British Raj IndiaessaysSen Satyendranath (1909–1983)22John Masefield (1878–1967)United Kingdompoetry, drama, novel, short story, essays, autobiographyAnders Österling (1884–1981)23Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1865–1941) Soviet Unionnovel, essays, poetry, drama Sigurd Agrell (1881–1937)24Kostis Palamas (1859–1943) Kingdom of Greece Greecepoetry, essaysNikos Athanasiou Veēs (1882–1958)25Jules Payot (1859–1940)French Third Republic Francepedagogy, philosophyAlfred Baudrillart, C.O. (1859–1942)26William Pickard (1889–1973)United Kingdomnovel, poetry, essaysArthur Bernard Cook (1868–1952)27Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) British Raj Indiaphilosophy, essays, lawHjalmar Hammarskjöld (1862–1953)28Valdemar Rørdam (1872–1946) Denmarkpoetry, essaysEjnar Thomsen (1897–1956)29Sally Salminen (1906–1976) Finlandnovel, essays, autobiographyAlbert Engström (1869–1940)30Arnold Schering (1877–1941)Nazi Germany GermanyessaysIlmari Krohn (1867–1960)31Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) Finlandnovel, short story, poetry15 Finnish professors and Academy membersnotes The nomination was made in 9 separate letters by 15 Finnish university professor and Academy members. Juho Kusti Paasikivi (1870–1956) Yrjö Hirn (1870–1952)32Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969) Belgiumnovel, short story5 professors from Belgian Universities 64 university lecturers from Germany Leo Goemans (1869–1955) Hans-Friedrich Rosenfeld (1899–1993)33Maila Talvio (1871–1951) Finlandnovel, short story, translationIlmari Krohn (1867–1960)34Shaul Tchernichovsky (1875–1943)Soviet UnionMandatory Palestinepoetry, essays, translationJoseph Klausner (1874–1958)35Cécile Tormay (1875–1937)Kingdom of Hungary Hungarynovel, short story, essays, translationJenö Pintér (1921–1988) János Horváth (1878–1961) Károly Pap (1897–1945) János Hankiss (1893–1959) Fredrik Böök (1883–1961)36Paul Valéry (1871–1945) French Third Republic Francepoetry, philosophy, essays, dramaGabriel Hanotaux (1853–1944)37Albert Verwey (1865–1937)Netherlandspoetry, essays, translationPieter Nicolaas van Eyck (1887–1954) Cornelis Gerrit Nicolaas de Vooys (1873–1955) Nicolaas Anthony Donkersloot (1902–1965) Prize decision The main contenders for the 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature were Flemish Belgian writer Stijn Streuvels and French novelist Roger Martin du Gard. Three members of the Nobel committee advocated Streuvels and two advocated Martin du Gard. English writer John Masefield and a shared prize to Finnish writers Jarl Hemmer and Frans Eemil Sillanpää were also considered.Nobelpriset i litteratur. Nomineringar och utlåtanden 1920-1950 1937 Svensén, Bo Svenska Akademien 2001 On 11 November 1937 the Swedish Academy decided that that year's Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to Roger Martin du Gard "for the artistic power and truth with which he has depicted human conflict as well as some fundamental aspects of contemporary life in his novel-cycle Les Thibault". Notes References External links Award ceremony speech by Per Hallström Banquet speech by Roger Martin du Gard 1937 Nobel