# 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature was divided equally between Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888–1970) "for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people" and Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) "for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel's destiny with touching strength."
It is one of four occasions (1904, 1917, and 1974) when the Nobel Prize in Literature has been shared between two individuals.

## Laureates
### Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Shmuel Agnon was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. His works deal with the conflict of Jewish tradition and language and the modern world. His first works were published when he was a teenager and he immediately gained a reputation. His breakthrough novel was Hakhnāsat kallāh ("The Bridal Cannopy", 1931). After World War II, under the impact of the holocaust, Agnon wrote Ir Umeloah ("A City in its Fullness", 1973), which is a collection of folktales, legends, and chronicles portraying his birth town, Buczacz.

### Nelly Sachs

Nelly Sachs was a German poet and dramatist whose works deal with the dark fate of the Jewish people in the 20th century. She borrows subjects for her poetry from the Jewish beliefs and mysticism, but her authorship is also strongly colored by Nazi persecution of the Jews, with the horrors of the death camps as its ultimate expression. Sachs' poetry combines echoes from the poetry of ancient religious texts with modernist language. Besides poetry, her writings also include a couple of plays. Her best-known collections include In den Wohnungen des Todes ("In the Houses of Death", 1947), Sternverdunkelung ("Eclipse of Stars", 1949), and Flucht und Verwandlung ("Flight and Metamorphosis", 1959).

## Deliberations
### Nominations

In 1966, the Nobel committee for literature received 99 nominations for 72 writers including Jean Anouilh, Louis Aragon, W. H. Auden, Samuel Beckett (awarded in 1969), Jorge Luis Borges, Heinrich Böll (awarded in 1972), Alejo Carpentier, René Char, Lawrence Durrell, E. M. Forster, Max Frisch, Robert Graves, Graham Greene, Jorge Guillén, Yasunari Kawabata (awarded in 1968), André Malraux, Harry Martinson (awarded in 1974), Alberto Moravia, Vladimir Nabokov, Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971), Ezra Pound, Mika Waltari, Tarjei Vesaas and Simon Vestdijk. Ten of the nominees were nominated first-time, among them Pierre-Henri Simon, Witold Gombrowicz, Arnold Wesker, Carlo Emilio Gadda and Günter Grass (awarded in 1999). Three of the nominees were women: Anna Achmatova, Katherine Anne Porter and Nelly Sachs.
The authors Margery Allingham, Hans Christian Branner, Dimitar Dimov, Helga Eng, Svend Fleuron, C. S. Forester, Jean Galtier-Boissière, Mina Loy, Lao She, Kathleen Norris, Frank O'Connor, Frank O'Hara, Brian O'Nolan, Delmore Schwartz, Cordwainer Smith, Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, Yórgos Theotokás, Henry Treece, and Marja-Liisa Vartio died in 1966 without having been nominated for the prize. Soviet-Russian poet Anna Akhmatova died months before the announcement.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize :
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
| 1 | Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966) | Soviet Union | poetry | Roman Jakobson (1896–1982)Gunnar Jacobsson (1918–2001)Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
| 2 | Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1887–1970) | Israel | novel, short story | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 3 | Jean Anouilh (1910–1987) | France | drama, screenplay, translation | Paul Pédech (1912–2005)Viktor Pöschl (1910–1997) |
| 4 | Louis Aragon (1897–1982) | France | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Robert Ricatte (1913–1995) |
| 5 | Alexandre Arnoux (1884–1973) | France | screenplay | François Bar (?) |
| 6 | Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899–1974) | Guatemala | novel, short story, poetry, essays, drama | Charles Vincent Aubrun (1906–1993) |
| 7 | Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) | United Kingdom United States | poetry, essays, screenplay | Andrew Chiappe (1915–1967)Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)Jack Arthur Walter Bennett (1911–1981) |
| 8 | Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) | Ireland | novel, drama, poetry | William York Tindall (1903–1981)William Stuart Maguinness (1903–1983)Léon Cellier (1911–1976)Johannes Edfelt (1904–1997) |
| 9 | Johan Borgen (1902–1979) | Norway | novel, literary criticism | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 10 | Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) | Argentina | poetry, essays, translation, short story | Paul Bénichou (1908–2001)Eugenio Florit (1903–1999) |
| 11 | Henri Bosco (1888–1976) | France | novel, short story | Louis Guinet (1911–1993) |
| 12 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) | West Germany | novel, short story | René Wellek (1903–1995) |
| 13 | Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) | Cuba | novel, short story, essays | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
| 14 | René Char (1907–1988) | France | poetry | Georges Blin (1917–2015) |
| 15 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 16 | Pierre Emmanuel (1916–1984) | France | poetry, autobiography | Jacqueline Duchemin (1910–1988) |
| 17 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism | Horace Leland Friess (1900–1975)John Herman Randall Jr. (1899–1980) |
| 18 | Max Frisch (1911–1991) | Switzerland | novel, drama | John Stephenson Spink (1909–1985)Hans Robert Jauss (1921–1997) |
| 19 | Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973) | Italy | novel, short story, poetry | Mario Pei (1901–1978) |
| 20 | Rómulo Gallegos (1884–1969) | Venezuela | novel, short story | Andrés Iduarte Foucher (1907–1984) |
| 21 | Hossein Ghods-Nakhai (1911–1977) | Iran | poetry, essays | Arthur John Arberry (1905–1969) |
| 22 | Jean Giono (1895–1970) | France | novel, short story, essays, poetry, drama | Jean-Jacques Leveque (1931–2012) |
| 23 | Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969) | Poland | short story, novel, drama | Gunnar Jacobsson (1918–2001) |
| 24 | Günter Grass (1927–2015) | West Germany | novel, drama, poetry, essays | Erwin Wolff (1924–2007) |
| 25 | Robert Graves (1895–1985) | United Kingdom | history, novel, poetry, literary criticism, essays | The English PEN-ClubMarvin Spevack (1927–2013) |
| 26 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013) |
| 27 | Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) | Spain | poetry, literary criticism | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
| 28 | Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays | Geoffrey Tillotson (1905–1969) |
| 29 | Gyula Illyés (1902–1983) | Hungary | poetry, novel, drama, essays | János Lotz (1913–1973) |
| 30 | Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) | Poland | poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novel | Jean Fabre (1904–1975) |
| 31 | Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979) | France | short story, novel | Jean Gaulmier (1905–1997) |
| 32 | Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) | West Germany | philosophy, novel, memoir | Rudolf Till (1911–1979) |
| 33 | Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) | Japan | novel, short story | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
| 34 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Gunnar Jacobsson (1918–2001) |
| 35 | Erich Kästner (1899–1974) | West Germany | poetry, screenplay, autobiography | Werner Betz (1912–1980) |
| 36 | Carlo Levi (1902–1975) | Italy | memoir, novel, short story | Maria Bellonci (1902–1986) |
| 37 | Robert Lowell (1917–1977) | United States | poetry, translation | Eric Bentley (1916–2020) |
| 38 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Henry Caraway Hatfield (1912–1995)John Martin Cocking (1914–1986)Yves Le Hir (1919–2005)Georges Matoré (1908–1998) |
| 39 | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) | Sweden | poetry, novel, drama, essays | Alf Önnerfors (1925–2019) |
| 40 | Thierry Maulnier (1909–1988) | France | drama, essays, literary criticism | Félix Carrère (1911–1991) |
| 41 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history | Gunnar Tilander (1894–1973)Henri Guiter (1909–1994) |
| 42 | Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) | Sweden | novel, drama, history | Gösta Bergman (1894–1984) |
| 43 | Eugenio Montale (1896–1981) | Italy | poetry, translation | Uberto Limentani (1913–1989) |
| 44 | Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) | France | essays, novel, drama | Barthélémy-Antonin Taladoire (1907–1976) |
| 45 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama | Uberto Limentani (1913–1989)Maria Bellonci (1902–1986) |
| 46 | Henri Muller (1902–1980) | France | novel, memoir, essays | Pierre Lyautey (1893–1976) |
| 47 | Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) | Russia United States | novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir | Jacques Guicharnaud (1924–2005) |
| 48 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) | Chile | poetry | Lennart Breitholtz (1909–1998)Jürgen von Stackelberg (1925–2020)The Chilean Writers SocietyJuan Marichal (1922–2010) |
| 49 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) | Japan | poetry, literary criticism | Naoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979) |
| 50 | Walter Pabst (1907–1992) | West Germany | essays, literary criticism | Günther Reichenkron (1907–1966) |
| 51 | Marcel Pagnol (1895–1974) | France | novel, memoir, drama, screenplay | Jean Ricci (1933–2011) |
| 52 | Konstantin Paustovsky (1892–1968) | Soviet Union | novel, poetry, drama | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
| 53 | José María Pemán (1897–1981) | Spain | poetry, drama, novel, essays, screenplay | members of the Royal Spanish AcademyManuel Halcón Villalón-Daoíz (1900–1989)Gerardo Diego (1896–1987) |
| 54 | Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980) | United States | short story, essays | Cleanth Brooks (1906–1994) |
| 55 | Ezra Pound (1885–1972) | United States | poetry, essays | Norman Holmes Pearson (1909–1975)H. M. Heinrich (?) |
| 56 | John Boynton Priestley (1894–1984) | United Kingdom | novel, drama, screenplay, literary criticism, essays | Archibald Tucker (1904–1980) |
| 57 | Jules Romains (1885–1972) | France | poetry, drama, screenplay | Yves Gandon (1899–1975) |
| 58 | Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) | West Germany Sweden | poetry, drama | Walter Arthur Berendsohn (1884–1984)Siegbert Salomon Prawer (1925–2012)Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 59 | Paul Celan (1920–1970) | Romania France | poetry, translation | Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 60 | Pierre-Henri Simon (1903–1972) | France | essays, novel, literary criticism, poetry | Pierre Jonin (1912–1997) |
| 61 | Gustave Thibon (1903–2001) | France | philosophy | Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990) |
| 62 | Miguel Torga (1907–1995) | Portugal | poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiography | Jean-Baptiste Aquarone (1903–1989) |
| 63 | Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972) | Italy | philosophy, essays | Academia Santista de Letras |
| 64 | Mika Waltari (1908–1979) | Finland | short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplay | Manfred Mayrhofer (1926–2011) |
| 65 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel | Carl-Eric Thors (1920–1986)Sigmund Skard (1903–1995)Norwegian Authors' Union |
| 66 | Arnold Wesker (1932–2016) | United Kingdom | drama, novel, essays | Alistair Campbell (1907–1974) |
| 67 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | The Dutch PEN-ClubDutch Association of Writers and TranslatorsRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| 68 | Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) | United States | drama, novel, short story | Morton Wilfred Bloomfield (1913–1987) |
| 69 | Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story, drama | Leon Samuel Roudiez (1917–2004) |
| 70 | Arnold Zweig (1887–1968) | East Germany | novel, short story | Heinz Mettke (1924–2007) |
| 71 | Arnulf Øverland (1889–1968) | Norway | poetry, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 72 | Alberto Hidalgo Lobato (1897–1967) | Peru | poetry, essays | Peruvian Writers Association |

### Prize decision

The Nobel committee, a working group within the Swedish Academy, proposed that the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to the Japanese writer Yasunari Kawabata, but, unconventionally, the 18 members of the Academy did not follow the recommendation and voted for a prize to Agnon and Sachs. A shared prize to the Latin American writers Jorge Luis Borges and Miguel Angel Asturias, and to Nelly Sachs and Paul Celan were proposed.

## Award ceremony

In his award ceremony speech on 10 December 1966 Anders Österling of the Swedish Academy said:
   This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to two outstanding Jewish authors – Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs – each of whom represents Israel’s message to our time. Agnon’s home is in Jerusalem, and Miss Sachs has been an immigrant in Sweden since 1940, and is now a Swedish subject. The purpose of combining these two prizewinners is to do justice to the individual achievements of each, and the sharing of the prize has its special justification: to honour two writers who, although they write in different languages, are united in a spiritual kinship and complement each other in a superb effort to present the cultural heritage of the Jewish people through the written word. Their common source of inspiration has been, for both of them, a vital power.