Alfred Nobel signed a will and a testament to giving the series of prizes “the Nobel Prizes” on 27 November 1895.
Total Number of Nobel Prizes in Literature
Total 106 Nobel Prizes have been awarded in Literature from 1901 – 2013. But Nobel Prizes in Literature was not awarded on 7 years: in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943.
Total Number of Shared Nobel Prizes in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been shared on 4 years between 2 individuals. Actually the Nobel Prizes sharing is the common phenomenon.
Year and Name of the Nobel Prizes Laureate in Literature (Sharing):
- 1904 – Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray
- 1917 – Karl Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan
- 1966 – Shmuel Agnon, Nelly Sachs
- 1974 – Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
Total Number of Nobel Prizes in Literature Laureates
106 is the total number of Nobel Prizes in Literature. 110 individuals got the Nobel Prizes in Literature. Because of 4 shared Nobel Prizes.
Youngest Nobel Prizes in Literature Laureate
42 years was the age of the youngest Literature Laureate ever, Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book. when he was awarded the Prize in 1907.
Oldest Nobel Prizes in Literature Laureate
88 years was the age of the oldest Literature Laureate ever, Doris Lessing, when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.
Female Nobel Prizes in Literature Laureates
Till now (2013) 13 women have been awarded Nobel Prizes in Literature. Where the first Nobel prize laureate in Literature was Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) in 1909.
Female Laureates are
- 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.
Surprise Nobel prize in Literature Laureate
Many believe that Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, but he was actually awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature. Churchill got 20 nominations for the Literature Prize and two for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Number of Laureates of Nobel Prizes in Literature sorted in Languages
| The 110 Nobel Laureates in Literature from 1901 to 2013 have been writing/writes in the following languages: | |||
| English | 27 | Bengali | 1 |
| French | 13 | Chinese | 2 |
| German | 13 | Czech | 1 |
| Spanish | 11 | Finnish | 1 |
| Swedish | 7 | Hebrew | 1 |
| Italian | 6 | Hungarian | 1 |
| Russian | 5 | Icelandic | 1 |
| Polish | 4 | Occitan | 1 |
| Norwegian | 3 | Portuguese | 1 |
| Danish | 3 | Serbo-Croatian | 1 |
| Greek | 2 | Turkish | 1 |
| Japanese | 2 | Yiddish | 1 |
| Arabic | 1 | ||
Nobel Prize in Literature at a glance
- Total 106 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded 1901-2013.
- 13 women have been awarded the Literature Prize so far.
- 4 Literature Prizes have been divided between two persons.
- 42 years was the age of the youngest Literature Laureate ever, Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book.
- 88 years was the age of the oldest Literature Laureate ever, Doris Lessing, when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.
- 64 is the average age of the Nobel Laureates in Literature the year they were awarded the prize.
Via: nobelprize.org
