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1912 Nobel Prize in Literature

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1912 Nobel Prize in Literature
Gerhart Hauptmann
"primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art."
Date
  • 10 October 1912 (announcement)
  • 10 December 1912
    (ceremony)
LocationStockholm, Sweden
Presented bySwedish Academy
First awarded1901
WebsiteOfficial website
← 1911 · Nobel Prize in Literature · 1913 →

The 1912 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the German dramatist and novelist Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1949) "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art."[1] He is the fourth German author to become a recipient of the prize after Paul Heyse in 1910.[2]

Laureate

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Main article: Gerhart Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann achieved prominence as one of the pioneers of German Naturalism. Naturalism emphasizes observation and determinism as key concepts. Vor Sonnenaufgang ("Before Sunrise"), a drama he wrote in 1889, launched his career and received critical acclaim at the same time and was followed by other successful plays such as Die Weber ("The Weaver", 1892), Hanneles Himmelfahrt ("The Assumption of Hannele", 1893), and Die versunkene Glocke ("The Sunken Bell", 1896). Hauptmann was inspired by the discussion and quickly produced a series of works with realistic themes. He released Der Narr in Christo Emanuel Quint ("The Fool in Christ, Emanuel Quint)", his debut book, in 1910.[3][2]

An 1897 poster for the play Die Weber.

Deliberations

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Nominations

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Gerhart Huaptmann was nominated in 5 occasions (three in 1902 and one nomination in 1906). His nomination in 1912 was made Erich Schmidt (1853–1913), historian of literature and member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, which eventually led him to being awarded the prize.[4]

In total, the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy received 40 nominations for 30 writers. The highest nominations was for Spanish novelist Benito Pérez Galdós with five nominations. Among the repeated nominees include Henry James, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw (awarded in 1925), William Chapman, Verner von Heidenstam (awarded in 1916), and Juhani Aho. Ten of the nominees were nominated first-time, among them Henri Bergson (awarded in 1927), Pencho Slaveykov, Sven Hedin, Carl Spitteler (awarded in 1919), Jean-Henri Fabre, Salvatore Farina, Benito Pérez Galdós, Adolf Frey, and James George Frazer. No female authors were nominated that year.[5]

The authors Herman Bang, Robert Barr, Berta Behrens, Alexandre Bisson, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Felix Dahn, Louis de Gramont, Léon Dierx, Horace Howard Furness, Joseph Furphy, Jacques Futrelle, Girish Chandra Ghosh, Theodor Gomperz, George Grossmith, Bertha Jane Grundy, Mir Mosharraf Hossain, Alphonse Lemerre, Lie Kim Hok, Karl May, Gabriel Monod, Giovanni Pascoli, Rafael Pombo, Bolesław Prus, Addison Peale Russell, Bram Stoker, Aleksey Suvorin, and Victoria, Lady Welby died in 1912 without having been nominated for the prize. The Bulgarian poet Pencho Slaveykov died months before the announcement.

Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize
No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)
1 Juhani Aho (1861–1921)  Russia
( Finland) 		novel, short story Johan Wilhelm Ruuth (1854–1928)
2 Rafael Altamira Crevea (1866–1951)  Spain history, pedagogy, law, essays Fermín Canella Secades (1849–1924)
3 Henri Bergson (1859–1941)  France philosophy Andrew Lang (1844–1912)
4 William Chapman (1850–1917)  Canada poetry, translation Adrien-Bruno Roy, O.M.I. (?)
5 Francesco D'Ovidio (1849–1925)  Italy philology, literary criticism Ernesto Monaci (1844–1918)
6 Jean-Henri Fabre (1823–1915)  France short story, essays, poetry
7 Salvatore Farina (1846–1918)  Italy novel, short story 3 members of the Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere
8 Anatole France (1844–1924)  France poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism Paul Hervieu (1857–1915)
9 James George Frazer (1854–1941)  Great Britain history, essays, translation George Augustin Macmillan (1855–1936)
10 Adolf Frey (1855–1920)   Switzerland biography, history, essays Wilhelm Oechsli (1851–1919)
11 Karl Adolph Gjellerup (1857–1919)  Denmark poetry, drama, novel 5 members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
12 Ángel Guimerá Jorge (1845–1924)  Spain drama, poetry
13 Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)  Great Britain novel, short story, poetry 70 members of the Royal Society of Literature
14 Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946)  Germany drama, novel Erich Schmidt (1853–1913)
15 Sven Hedin (1865–1952)  Sweden essays, autobiography, history Fredrik Wulff (1845–1930)
16 Harald Høffding (1843–1931)  Denmark philosophy, theology 12 members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
17 Henry James (1843–1916)  United States
 Great Britain 		novel, short story, drama, essays
18 Hans Ernst Kinck (1865–1926)  Norway philology, novel, short story, drama, essays Gerhard Gran (1856–1925)
19 Ernest Lavisse (1842–1922)  France history Hans Hildebrand (1842–1913)
20 Pierre Loti (1850–1923)  France novel, short story, autobiography, essays
21 Benito Pérez Galdós (1843–1920)  Spain novel, short story, drama, essays
22 Salvador Rueda Santos (1857–1933)  Spain poetry, essays 10 professors of the Cardenal Cisneros Institute
23 Karl Schönherr (1867–1943)  Austria-Hungary drama, short story, poetry Karl Johan Warburg (1852–1918)
24 George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)  Great Britain
and Ireland 		drama, essays, novel Kristian Birch-Reichenwald Aars (1868–1917)
25 Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912)  Bulgaria poetry, essays Alfred Jensen (1859–1921)
26 Georgios Souris (1853–1919)  Greece poetry, songwriting Georgios Hatzidakis (1848–1941)
27 Carl Spitteler (1845–1924)   Switzerland poetry, essays
28 Émile Verhaeren (1855–1916)  Belgium poetry, essays 2 professors of the Free University of Brussels
29 Ernst von der Recke (1848–1933)  Denmark poetry, drama
  • Thor Lange (1851–1915)
  • Ewert Wrangel (1863–1940)
30 Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)  Sweden novel, short story, poetry Fredrik Wulff (1845–1930)

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The nomination was made by several scientists and other individuals, among those F. Mistral and Count M. Maeterlinck.
  2. ^ The nomination was made by more than 700 members of various literary societies in Spain, divided in 4 nominations.

References

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  1. ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1912 nobelprize.org
  2. ^ a b Gerhart Hauptmann britannica.com
  3. ^ Gerhart Hauptmann – Facts nobelprize.org
  4. ^ Nomination archive – Gerhart Hauptmann nobelprize.org
  5. ^ Nomination archive – 1912 nobelprize.org
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