Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature

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

Facts on the Prize in Economic Sciences

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

Facts on the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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.

Facts on the Nobel Prize in Physics

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.

Facts on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

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

List of Noble Prize Winner Women

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.

Facts on the Nobel Peace Prize

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.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/

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