1975 Nobel Prize in Literature
 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature | |
|---|---|
| Eugenio Montale | |
 "for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions" | |
| Date |
|
| Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Presented by | Swedish Academy |
| First award | 1901 |
| Website | Official website |
The 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Italian poet Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) "for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions".[1] He is the fifth Italian laureate for the literature prize.
Laureate
[edit]Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Salvatore Quasimodo, Eugenio Montale is associated with the poetic school of hermeticsm, the Italian variant of the French symbolism movement, although Montale himself did not consider himself to be part of the hermetic school. His poetry is often compared to T. S. Eliot. When the Swedish Academy awarded him with the Nobel Prize in 1975, they called him “one of the most important poets of the contemporary West”.[2] His notable oeuvres include Ossi di seppia ("Cuttlefish Bones", 1925), Le occasioni ("The Occasions", 1939), La bufera e altro ("The Storm and Other Things", 1956), Satura (1962–1970) (1971) and Diario del '71 e del '72 (1973).[3]
Deliberations
[edit]Nominations
[edit]Montale was first nominated for the prize in 1955 by Nobel laureate T. S. Eliot. It was followed in 1961 and from 1966 he became a regular nominee. By 1974, the Nobel committee had received 27 nominations in total before Montale was eventually awarded.[4]
In 1975, the Swedish Academy received nominations for 114 writers with 22 being from the Nobel Committee itself. Twenty-eight of the nominees were new recommendations such Chinua Achebe, Fernand Braudel, Dobrica Ćosić, Miloš Crnjanski, Mohammed Dib, Gabriel García Márquez (awarded in 1982), Wilson Harris, Masuji Ibuse, Tove Jansson, Naguib Mahfouz (awarded in 1988), Desanka Maksimović, Vasko Popa, Chaim Potok and Mary Renault. The oldest nominee was Estonian poet Marie Under (aged 92) and the youngest was the Irish poet Brendan Kennelly (aged 39). Since the establishment of the awarded, 1975 became the highest number of female contenders in a year with 13 nominees: Anna Banti, Simone de Beauvoir, Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007), Nadine Gordimer (awarded in 1991), Tove Jansson, Rina Lasnier, Desanka Maksimović, Kamala Markandaya, Victoria Ocampo, Mary Renault, Nathalie Sarraute, Anna Seghers and Marie Under.[5]
The authors Peter Anson, Hannah Arendt, Mikhail Bakhtin, Kersti Bergroth, Arthur Herbert Dodd, Julian Huxley, Edward Hyams, Murray Leinster, Constance Malleson, Thomas H. Parry-Williams, Kate Seredy, Robert Cedric Sherriff, Sydney Goodsir Smith, Ivan Sokolov-Mikitov, Elizabeth Taylor and P. G. Wodehouse died in 1975 without having been nominated for the prize.
| No. | Nominee | Country | Nominator(s) | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) |  Nigeria |
Clifford Hanley (1922-1999) |  Scotland |
| 2 | Rafael Alberti (1902-1999) |  Spain |
Nobel Committee |  Sweden |
| 3 | Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984) | Spain |
Juan Villegas Morales (1934–) |  United States |
| 11 other professors of University of California, Irvine | United States | |||
| Philip Warnock Silver (1932–2020) | United States | |||
| 14 other professors of Columbia University | United States | |||
| Herb Jones (–)[who?] | United States | |||
| Robert Felkel (–)[who?] | United States | |||
| James Semelroth (–)[who?] | United States | |||
| Elsa Fanjul Alvarez (1938–) |  Cuba United States | |||
| Mercedes Ramírez Cárdenas (1914–2007) | Cuba United States | |||
| John Dowling (1920–2009) | United States | |||
| Manuel Ramirez (1914–1984) | United States | |||
| Ralph de Gorog (1922–2006) | United States | |||
| Ruth Lundelius (1931–) | United States | |||
| Manuel Mantero (1930–2024) | Spain United States | |||
| Henryk Ziomek (1922–2018) |  Poland United States | |||
| John Kelly Walsh (1930–2011) | United States | |||
| Samuel Jackson Cartledge (1935–2006) | United States | |||
| Oswaldo Arana (1925–2015) |  Peru United States | |||
| Daniel Brondi (1938–2019) | United States | |||
| Walter Kline (1923–1995) | United States | |||
| Leon Gilbert (–)[who?] | United States | |||
| Stephen Vasari (1921–2006) | United States | |||
| Jacqueline Kiraithe (–)[who?] | United States | |||
| Ervie Peña (1934–) | United States | |||
| Damaso Alonso (1898-1990) | Spain | |||
| 4 | Louis Aragon (1897–1982) |  France |
Michel Cadot (1926–2022) | France |
| 5 | Riccardo Bacchelli (1891–1985) |  Italy |
Giovanni Nencioni (1911–2008) | Italy |
| Enrico Cerulli (1898–1988) | Italy | |||
| 6 | Anna Banti (1895-1985) | Italy |
Gustavo Costa (1930–2012) | Italy |
| 7 | Saul Bellow (1915–2005) |  Canada United States |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 8 | Louis Paul Boon (1912–1979) |  Belgium |
A. Backx (–)[who?] |  Netherlands |
| Albert Bontridder (1921–2015) | Belgium | |||
| Gerrit Borgers (1917–1987) | Netherlands | |||
| Wim Hazeu (1940–2024) | Netherlands | |||
| Bernard Kemp (1926–1980) | Belgium | |||
| 9 | Johan Borgen (1902–1979) |  Norway |
 Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
Sweden |
| 10 | Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) |  Argentina |
Luis Droguett Alfaro (1922–2014) |  Chile |
| Michel Cadot (1926–2022) | France | |||
| Jónas Kristjánsson (1924–2014) |  Iceland | |||
| Aatos Ojala (1919–1987) |  Finland | |||
| 11 | Fernand Braudel (1902–1985) | France |
John Harold Plumb (1911–2001) |  England |
| 12 | Elias Canetti (1905–1994) |  Bulgaria England |
Manfred Durzak (1938–) |  West Germany |
| 13 | Camilo José Cela (1916–2002) | Spain |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 14 | Aimé Césaire (1913–2008) |  Martinique |
Jeanne-Lydie Goré (1924–2017) | France |
| 15 | André Chamson (1900–1983) | France |
Armand Lunel (1892–1977) | France |
| Giannēs Koutsocheras (1904–1994) |  Greece | |||
| Henri Guiter (1909–1994) | France | |||
| Guy Nairay (1914–1999) | France | |||
| 16 | René Char (1907–1988) | France |
Henri Peyre (1901–1988) | France United States |
| 17 | Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) |  India United States |
Willard Abraham (1938–1994) | United States |
| Karl Kroeber (1926–2009) | United States | |||
| Peter Pitzele (1942–) | United States | |||
| 18 | Dobrica Ćosić (1921–2014) |  Serbia |
Pavle Ivić (1924–1999) | Serbia |
| 19 | Miloš Crnjanski (1893–1977) |  Hungary Serbia |
Miroslav Pantić (1926–2011) | Serbia |
| Pavle Ivić (1924–1999) | Serbia | |||
| Nikola Milošević (1929–2007) | Serbia | |||
| Miloslava Stojnić (–)[who?] | Serbia | |||
| 20 | Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca (1914–2008) |  Türkiye |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 21 | Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) | France |
Per Wastberg (1933–) | Sweden |
| 22 | Malcolm de Chazal (1902–1981) |  Mauritius |
Camille de Rauville (1910–1986) | Mauritius |
| 23 | Mohammed Dib (1920–2003) |  Algeria France |
Jeanne-Lydie Goré (1924–2017) | France |
| 24 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | England |
Jacques Schwartz (1914–1992) | France |
| 25 | Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) |  Switzerland |
Werner Betz (1912–1980) | West Germany |
| Keijo Holsti (1932–1989) | Finland | |||
| Herbert Penzl (1910–1995) |  Austria United States | |||
| Holger Frykenstedt (1911–2003) | Sweden | |||
| 26 | Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996) | Greece |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 27 | Salvador Espriu (1913–1985) | Spain |
Antoni Comas i Pujol (1931–1981) | Spain |
| 28 | James Thomas Farrell (1904–1979) | United States |
Edgar Marquess Branch (1913–2006) | United States |
| Duane Schneider (1937–2012) | United States | |||
| 29 | Max Frisch (1911–1991) | Switzerland |
Manfred Durzak (1938–) | West Germany |
| Karl Hyldgaard-Jensen (1917–1995) |  Denmark Sweden | |||
| Holger Frykenstedt (1911–2003) | Sweden | |||
| 30 | Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014) |  Colombia |
Walter Ralph Johnson (1933–2024) | United States |
| 31 | William Golding (1911–1993) | England |
Irma Koskenniemi (1936–) | Finland |
| 32 | Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) |  South Africa |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 33 | Günter Grass (1927–2015) | West Germany |
Brian Rowley (1923–2013) | England |
| Manfred Windfuhr (1930–) | West Germany | |||
| 34 | Julien Green (1900–1998) | France |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 35 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | England |
Walter Ralph Johnson (1933–2024) | United States |
| Esko Pennanen (1912–1990) | Finland | |||
| Victor Sawdon Pritchett (1900–1997) | England | |||
| Mary Renault (1905–1983) | England South Africa | |||
| Hugh Macrae Richmond (1932–) | England | |||
| Herbert Morgan Waidson (1916–1988) | England | |||
| Wolfgang Weiss (1932–2019) | West Germany | |||
| 36 | Jean Guitton (1901–1999) | France |
Charles Dédéyan (1910–2003) | France Armenia |
| 37 | Okiuyama Gwyn (1920–1977) | India |
Indra Bahadur Rai (1927–2018) | India |
| 38 | Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008) | Finland |
Eeva Kilpi (1928–2026) | Finland |
| Rauno Toivonen (1924–1999) | Finland | |||
| 39 | Wilson Harris (1921–2018) |  Guyana |
Joyce Sparer Adler (1915–1999) | United States |
| Jeanne Delbaere-Garant (–)[who?] | Belgium | |||
| Michel Fabre (1933–2007) | France | |||
| Robert Merle Farnsworth (1929–2022) | United States | |||
| Alexander Norman Jeffares (1920–2005) |  Ireland | |||
| Arthur Ravenscroft (1924–1989) | England | |||
| Robert Thomas Robertson (1921–2010) | Canada | |||
| Anna Rutherford (1932–2001) |  Australia Denmark | |||
| Ivan Van Sertima (1935–2009) |
Guyana England | |||
| 40 | William Heinesen (1900–1991) |  Faroe Islands |
Hans Bekker-Nielsen (1933–2007) | Denmark |
| Peter Foote (1924–2009) | England | |||
| Walton Glyn Jones (1928–2014) | England | |||
| Jákup Jákupsstovu (1922–1976) | Denmark | |||
| Duncan Mennie (1909–1998) | England | |||
| 41 | Joseph Heller (1923–1999) | United States |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 42 | Vladimír Holan (1905–1980) |  Czechoslovakia |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 43 | Hans Henrik Holm (1896–1980) | Norway |
Olav Bø (1918–1998) | Norway |
| Kåre Langvik-Johannessen (1919–2014) | Norway | |||
| 44 | Masuji Ibuse (1898–1993) |  Japan |
Michel Cadot (1926–2022) | France |
| 45 | Gyula Illyés (1902–1983) | Hungary |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 46 | Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) |  Romania France |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 47 | Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh (1892–1997) |  Iran |
Ehsan Yarshater (1920–2018) | Iran |
| 48 | Tove Jansson (1914–2001) | Finland |
Eeva Kilpi (1928–) | Finland |
| Kerstin Nyqvist (–)[who?] | Finland | |||
| 49 | Eugen Jebeleanu (1911–1991) | Romania |
Miron Nicolescu (1903–1975) | Romania |
| Ion Jalea (1887–1983) | Romania | |||
| Corneliu Baba (1906–1997) | Romania | |||
| Alexandru Philippide (1900–1979) | Romania | |||
| Șerban Cioculescu (1902–1988) | Romania | |||
| Alexandru Dima (1905–1979) | Romania | |||
| Laurențiu Fulga (1916–1984) | Romania | |||
| 50 | Ferenc Juhász (1928–2015) | Hungary |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 51 | Yaşar Kemal (1923–2015) | Türkiye |
Raymond Williams (1921–1988) |  Wales |
| Le Conseil Scientifique | France | |||
| 52 | Brendan Kennelly (1936–2021) | Ireland |
John Brendan Keane (1928–2002) | Ireland |
| 53 | Wolfgang Koeppen (1906–1996) | West Germany |
Hermann Kesten (1900–1996) | West Germany |
| 54 | Arthur Koestler (1905–1983) | Hungary England |
George Mikes (1912–1987) | Hungary England |
| 55 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) |  Croatia |
Mira Mihelič (1912–1985) |  Slovenia |
| Miodrag Popović (1920–2005) | Serbia | |||
| Dušan Puhalo (1919–2006) | Serbia | |||
| Saša Vereš (1928–1992) | Croatia | |||
| Nikola Milošević (1929–2007) | Serbia | |||
| Miloslava Stojnić (–)[who?] | Serbia | |||
| 56 | Mihailo Lalić (1914–1992) | Montenegro Serbia |
Pavle Ivić (1924–1999) | Serbia |
| Vida Marković (1916–2001) | Serbia | |||
| 57 | Rina Lasnier (1915–1997) | Canada |
Andrée-Anne Charbonneau (–)[who?] | Canada |
| Robert Choquette (1905–1991) | Canada | |||
| 58 | Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014) | West Germany |
Klaus Doderer (1925–2023) | West Germany |
| 59 | Doris Lessing (1919–2013) |  Zimbabwe England |
Richard Murphey Goodwin (1913–1996) | United States |
| 60 | Väinö Linna (1920–1992) | Finland |
Åke Hansson (–)[who?] | Finland |
| Eeva Kilpi (1928–) | Finland | |||
| 61 | Robert Lowell (1917–1977) | United States |
Hans Galinsky (1909–1991) | West Germany United States |
| 62 | Hugh MacDiarmid (1892–1978) | Scotland |
David Daiches (1912–2005) | Scotland |
| 63 | Józef Mackiewicz (1902–1985) | Poland |
Jadwiga Maurer (1930–2012) | Poland |
| 64 | Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) |  Egypt |
Michel Cadot (1926–2022) | France |
| 65 | Norman Mailer (1923–2007) | United States |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 66 | Desanka Maksimović (1898–1993) | Serbia |
Miljan Mojašević (1918–2002) | Serbia |
| 67 | Bernard Malamud (1914–1986) | United States |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 68 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France |
Inge Jonsson (1928–2020) | Sweden |
| Jan Kott (1914–2001) | Poland | |||
| Maija Lehtonen (1924–2015) | Finland | |||
| Georges Matoré (1908–1998) | France | |||
| Henri Peyre (1901–1988) | France United States | |||
| Laurent Versini (1932–2021) | France | |||
| Michel Cadot (1926–2022) | France | |||
| 69 | Kamala Markandaya (1924–2004) | India England |
Horacio Serrano (1904–1980) | Chile |
| 70 | Segismundo Masel (1895–1985) | Argentina |
Antonio de Tornes Ballesteros (–)[who?] | Argentina |
| 71 | Henri Michaux (1899–1984) | Belgium France |
Andri Peer (1921–1985) | Switzerland |
| Kazimir Geza Werner (1900–1985) | Hungary West Germany | |||
| 72 | Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) | Italy |
Umberto Limentani (1913–1989) | Italy |
| Henri Peyre (1901–1988) | France United States | |||
| 73 | Giuseppe Morabito (1900–1997) | Italy |
Giovanni Giraldi (1915–2014) | Italy |
| 74 | Federico Morador Otero (1897–1977) |  Uruguay |
Eduardo Payssé Reyes (1902–1986) | Uruguay |
| 75 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy |
Per Wästberg (1933–) | Sweden |
| Jacques Robichez (1914–1999) | France | |||
| 76 | Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) |  Russia United States |
Robert Alter (1935–) | United States |
| Hans Bielenstein (1920–2015) | Sweden | |||
| Harry Levin (1912–1994) | United States | |||
| Franz Norbert Mennemeier (1924–2021) | West Germany | |||
| Kirstin Michalski (–)[who?] | United States | |||
| John Henry Raleigh (1920–2001) | United States | |||
| Hans Rothe (1894–1977) | Germany | |||
| Bernard Tervoort (1920–2006) | Netherlands | |||
| 77 | Mikhail Naimy (1889–1988) |  Lebanon |
Toufic Fahd (1923–2009) | Lebanon |
| 78 | V. S. Naipaul (1932–2018) |  Trinidad and Tobago England |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 79 | R. K. Narayan (1906–2001) | India |
Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977) | India |
| K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar (1908–1999) | India | |||
| 80 | Victoria Ocampo (1890–1979) | Argentina |
Fryda Schultz de Mantovani (1912–1978) | Argentina |
| 81 | Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023) | Japan |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 82 | Germán Pardo García (1902–1991) | Colombia Mexico |
Eduardo Guzmán Esponda (1889–1988) | Colombia |
| James Willis Robb (1918–2010) | United States | |||
| Estelle Irizarry (1937–2017) | United States | |||
| Oscar Abel Ligaluppi (1927–2000) | Argentina | |||
| 83 | Octavio Paz (1914–1998) | Mexico |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 84 | José María Pemán (1897–1981) | Spain |
Manuel Halcón (1900–1989) | Spain |
| Antonio Iraizoz (1890–1976) | Cuba | |||
| Emeterio Barcelon (1897–1978) |  Philippines | |||
| 85 | Harold Pinter (1930–2008) | England |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 86 | Vasko Popa (1922–1991) | Serbia |
Nils Åke Nilsson (1917–1995) | Sweden |
| 87 | Chaim Potok (1929–2002) | United States |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 88 | Satya Prakasha 'Nirad' (–)[who?] | India |
Y. K. Punj (–)[who?] | India |
| 89 | Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn Rahnamā (1894–1990) | Iran |
Abbas Aryanpur-Kashani (1906–1985) | Iran |
| Manouchehr Eghbal (1909–1977) | Iran | |||
| 90 | Mary Renault (1905–1983) | England South Africa |
Hugh Finn (1925–) | England Zimbabwe |
| 91 | Yannis Ritsos (1909–1990) | Greece |
Minas Savvas (1937–2025) | Greece United States |
| 92 | Philip Roth (1933–2018) | United States |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 93 | Tadeusz Rózewicz (1921–2014) | Poland |
Nils Åke Nilsson (1917–1995) | Sweden |
| Józef Trypućko (1910–1983) | Poland | |||
| 94 | Nathalie Sarraute (1900–1999) | France |
Franz Norbert Mennemeier (1924–2021) | West Germany |
| 95 | Anna Seghers (1900–1983) |  East Germany |
Heinz Kamnitzer (1917–2001) | West Germany |
| 96 | Jaroslav Seifert (1901–1986) | Czechoslovakia |
Ľubomír Ďurovič (1925–2022) |  Slovakia |
| Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) | Russia United States | |||
| 97 | Meša Selimović (1910–1982) |  Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbia |
Milosav Babović (1921–1997) | Montenegro Serbia |
| Ivan Dimić (1921–2004) | Serbia | |||
| 98 | Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) |  Senegal |
Roger Asselineau (1915–2002) | France |
| Alphonse Dupront (1905–1990) | France | |||
| Jeanne-Lydie Goré (1924–2017) | France | |||
| 99 | Ignazio Silone (1900–1978) | Italy |
Denis de Rougemont (1906–1985) | Switzerland |
| 100 | Claude Simon (1913–2005) | France |
Tom Bishop (1929–2022) | United States |
| Malcolm Bradbury (1932–2000) | England | |||
| John Fletcher (1937–2025) | England | |||
| Haydn Trevor Mason (1929–2018) | England | |||
| 101 | Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991) | Poland United States |
Lothar Kahn (1922–1990) | United States |
| Harry Levin (1912–1994) | United States | |||
| John Henry Raleigh (1920–2001) | United States | |||
| 102 | Manès Sperber (1905–1984) | Austria France |
Hermann Kesten (1900–1996) | West Germany |
| 103 | Abraham Sutzkever (1913–2010) |  Belarus Israel |
Nobel Committee | Sweden |
| 104 | Pratap Narayan Tandon (1935–) | India |
Kesari Narayan Shukla (–)[who?] | India |
| 105 | Miguel Torga (1907–1995) |  Portugal |
Hernâni Cidade (1887–1975) | Portugal |
| 106 | Marie Under (1883–1980) |  Estonia |
Asta Willmann (1916–1984) | Estonia |
| Ants Oras (1900–1982) | Estonia | |||
| 107 | Erico Verissimo (1905–1975) |  Brazil |
José Augusto César Salgado (1894–1979) | Brazil |
| 108 | Gerard Walschap (1898–1989) | Belgium |
Maurice Gilliams (1900–1982) | Belgium |
| Willem Pée (1903–1986) | Belgium | |||
| 109 | Mika Waltari (1908–1979) | Finland |
Keijo Holsti (1932–1989) | Finland |
| 110 | Sándor Weöres (1913–1989) | Hungary |
Áron Kibédi Varga (1930–2018) | Hungary Netherlands |
| 111 | John Hall Wheelock (1886–1978) | United States |
Charles Abraham Wagner (1898–1986) | United States |
| 112 | Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) | Romania United States |
Irving Abrahamson (1925–2022) | United States |
| Marver Bernstein (1919–1990) | United States | |||
| Albert Bowker (1919–2008) | United States | |||
| Jules Brody (1928–2021) | United States | |||
| Wolfgang Fleischmann (1928–) | United States | |||
| Maurice Stanley Friedman (1921–2016) | United States | |||
| Irving Greenberg (1933–) | United States | |||
| Irving Halperin (1922–2000) | United States | |||
| James McNaughton Hester (1924–2014) | United States | |||
| Gerd Høst-Heyerdahl (1915–2007) | Norway | |||
| Hans Juergensen (1919–2000) | United States | |||
| Louis Lionel Kaplan (1902–2001) | United States | |||
| Jack Kolbert (1927–2005) | United States | |||
| Rosette Clementine Lamont (1927–2012) | United States | |||
| Franklin Littell (1917–2009) | United States | |||
| Robert Marshak (1916–1992) | United States | |||
| André Neher (1914–1988) | France | |||
| David Patterson (1922–2005) | England | |||
| Robert Louis Payton (1926–2011) | United States | |||
| John Silber (1926–2012) | United States | |||
| David Weinstein (1908–1993) | United States | |||
| Charles Edward Young (1931–2023) | United States | |||
| 113 | Angus Wilson (1913–1991) | England |
Nicholas Brooke (1924–1998) | England |
| 114 | Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977) | West Germany |
Erich Ruprecht (1906–1997) | West Germany |
Prize decision
[edit]The members of the Nobel committee variously proposed Graham Greene, Saul Bellow (awarded in 1976), Doris Lessing (awarded in 2007) and Nadine Gordimer (awarded in 1991) as the recipients of the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature, but struggled to agree on one candidate. A speech by Academy member and former Nobel committee member Henry Olsson on 25 September appears to have convinced the members of the Swedish Academy to agree on awarding the fifth shortlisted candidate, Eugenio Montale. As none of the committee members had placed him as their first proposal, Montale is said being a compromise second choice by the Swedish Academy.[6]
Reactions
[edit]According to the Associated Press, Montale said that award had overwhelmed him and made his life, "which was always unhappy, less unhappy."[3]
In Italy, the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Montale was positively received. Their Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, congratulated him, said that the award "consecrates the validity of your poetical and human message, and, in you, honors the Italian culture,"[3] and President Giovanni Leone commented that his work's contained "tormented and lucid singling‐out of the anxieties and the aspirations of modern man."[3]
Award ceremony
[edit]At the award ceremony on 10 December 1975, Anders Österling of the Swedish Academy said:
"at his best Montale, with strict discipline, has attained a refined artistry, at once personal and objective, in which every word fills its place as precisely as the glass cube in a coloured mosaic. The linguistic laconicism cannot be carried any further; every trace of embellishment and jingle has been cleared away. When, for instance, in the remarkable portrait-poem of the Jewes Dora Markus, he wants to indicate the current background of time, he does so in five words: Distilla veleno una fede feroce (“A fierce faith distils poison”). In such masterpieces both the fateful perspective and the ingeniously concentrated structure are reminiscent of T.S. Eliot and “The Waste Land”, but Montale is unlikely to have received impulses from this quarter and his development has, if anything, followed a parallel path"[7]
Nobel lecture
[edit]Eugenio Montale delivered his Nobel lecture on 12 December 1975. Entitled "Is Poetry Still Possible?", he spoke about the art of poetry and poetry's place in the modern world of mass communication.[8]
References
[edit]- ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1975". nobelprize.org.
- ↑ "Eugenio Montale". poetryfoundation.org. 10 April 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 "Montale, a Poet, Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature". The New York Times. 24 October 1975.
- ↑ "Nomination archive – Eugenio Montale". nobelprize.org. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ↑ "Nobelarkivet–1975" (PDF). svenskaakademien.se (in Swedish). 1 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ↑ Schueler, Kaj (2 January 2026). "Efter krisen: Nobelpris till andrahandsvalet" (in Swedish). Svenska Dagbladet.
- ↑ "Award ceremony speech". nobelprize.org.
- ↑ "Eugenio Montale Nobel lecture". nobelprize.org.
External links
[edit]- Award ceremony speech nobelprize.org
- Eugenio Montale Nobel lecture nobelprize.org
