Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature
On 27
November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the
largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes. As
described in Nobel's will one part was dedicated to “the person who shall have
produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal
direction”. Learn more about the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1901 to 2014
Number of Nobel Prizes in Literature: 107 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded since
1901. It was not awarded on seven occasions: in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941,
1942, and 1943.
Number of Shared Nobel Prizes in Literature: The Nobel Prize in Literature has been shared between two
individuals on four occasions only. Sharing the Nobel Prize is a more common
phenomenon within the other Nobel Prize categories.
1904 -
Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray
1917 - Karl
Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan
1966 -
Shmuel Agnon, Nelly Sachs
1974 -
Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
Number of Nobel Laureates* in Literature: 111
individuals have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 1901-2014.
Average Age: The average
age of all Literature Laureates between 1901 and 2014 is 65 years.
Youngest Literature Laureate: To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling, best known
for The Jungle Book, who was 42 years old when he was awarded the Literature
Prize in 1907.
Oldest Literature Laureate: The oldest Nobel Laureate in Literature to date is Doris Lessing, who was
88 years old when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.
Female Nobel Laureates in Literature: 13 women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was the first woman to be awarded in
1909. Selma Lagerlöf was awarded five years before she was elected to the
Swedish Academy, the Nobel Prize awarding institution responsible for selecting
Nobel Laureates in Literature.
1909 - Selma
Lagerlöf
1926 -
Grazia Deledda
1928 -
Sigrid Undset
1938 - Pearl
Buck
1945 -
Gabriela Mistral
1966 - Nelly
Sachs
1991 -
Nadine Gordimer
1993 - Toni
Morrison
1996 -
Wislawa Szymborska
2004 -
Elfriede Jelinek
2007 - Doris
Lessing
2009 - Herta
Müller
2013 - Alice
Munro
Two People have Declined the Nobel Prize in Literature: Boris
Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature, "Accepted
first, later caused by the authorities of his country (Soviet Union) to decline
the Prize".
Jean Paul Sartre, the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature, declined the prize because he had
consistently declined all official honours.
Multiple Nobel Laureates in Literature: No one has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature
more than once.
Number of Nobel Laureates in Literature Sorted in
Languages:
Rabindranath
Tagore (Nobel Prize in Literature 1913) wrote in Bengali and English, Samuel
Beckett (Nobel Prize in Literature 1969) wrote in French and English and Joseph
Brodsky (Nobel Prize in Literature 1987) wrote poetry in Russian and prose in
English. These three Nobel Laureates have been sorted under Bengali, French and
Russian, respectively.
All Nobel Prizes in Literature: The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 107 times to 111 Nobel
Laureates between 1901 and 2014. Click on the links to get more information.
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