# 1912 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1912 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the German dramatist and novelist Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1949) "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art." He is the fourth German author to become a recipient of the prize after Paul Heyse in 1910.

## Laureate

Gerhart Hauptmann achieved prominence as one of the pioneers of German Naturalism. Naturalism emphasizes observation and determinism as key concepts. Vor Sonnenaufgang ("Before Sunrise"), a drama he wrote in 1889, launched his career and received critical acclaim at the same time and was followed by other successful plays such as Die Weber ("The Weaver", 1892), Hanneles Himmelfahrt ("The Assumption of Hannele", 1893), and Die versunkene Glocke ("The Sunken Bell", 1896). Hauptmann was inspired by the discussion and quickly produced a series of works with realistic themes. He released Der Narr in Christo Emanuel Quint ("The Fool in Christ, Emanuel Quint)", his debut book, in 1910.

## Deliberations
### Nominations

Gerhart Huaptmann was nominated in 5 occasions (three in 1902 and one nomination in 1906). His nomination in 1912 was made Erich Schmidt (1853–1913), historian of literature and member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, which eventually led him to being awarded the prize.
In total, the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy received 40 nominations for 30 writers. The highest nominations was for Spanish novelist Benito Pérez Galdós with five nominations. Among the repeated nominees include Henry James, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw (awarded in 1925), William Chapman, Verner von Heidenstam (awarded in 1916), and Juhani Aho. Ten of the nominees were nominated first-time, among them Henri Bergson (awarded in 1927), Pencho Slaveykov, Sven Hedin, Carl Spitteler (awarded in 1919), Jean-Henri Fabre, Salvatore Farina, Benito Pérez Galdós, Adolf Frey, and James George Frazer. No female authors were nominated that year.
The authors Herman Bang, Robert Barr, Berta Behrens, Alexandre Bisson, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Felix Dahn, Louis de Gramont, Léon Dierx, Horace Howard Furness, Joseph Furphy, Jacques Futrelle, Girish Chandra Ghosh, Theodor Gomperz, George Grossmith, Bertha Jane Grundy, Mir Mosharraf Hossain, Alphonse Lemerre, Lie Kim Hok, Karl May, Gabriel Monod, Giovanni Pascoli, Rafael Pombo, Bolesław Prus, Addison Peale Russell, Bram Stoker, Aleksey Suvorin, and Victoria, Lady Welby died in 1912 without having been nominated for the prize. The Bulgarian poet Pencho Slaveykov died months before the announcement.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize :
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
| 1 | Juhani Aho (1861–1921) | Russia ( Finland) | novel, short story | Johan Wilhelm Ruuth (1854–1928) |
| 2 | Rafael Altamira Crevea (1866–1951) | Spain | history, pedagogy, law, essays | Fermín Canella Secades (1849–1924) |
| 3 | Henri Bergson (1859–1941) | France | philosophy | Andrew Lang (1844–1912) |
| 4 | William Chapman (1850–1917) | Canada | poetry, translation | Adrien-Bruno Roy, O.M.I. (?) |
| 5 | Francesco D'Ovidio (1849–1925) | Italy | philology, literary criticism | Ernesto Monaci (1844–1918) |
| 6 | Jean-Henri Fabre (1823–1915) | France | short story, essays, poetry | Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)Jean Richepin (1849–1926) |
| 7 | Salvatore Farina (1846–1918) | Italy | novel, short story | 3 members of the Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere |
| 8 | Anatole France (1844–1924) | France | poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism | Paul Hervieu (1857–1915) |
| 9 | James George Frazer (1854–1941) | Great Britain | history, essays, translation | George Augustin Macmillan (1855–1936) |
| 10 | Adolf Frey (1855–1920) | Switzerland | biography, history, essays | Wilhelm Oechsli (1851–1919) |
| 11 | Karl Adolph Gjellerup (1857–1919) | Denmark | poetry, drama, novel | 5 members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters |
| 12 | Ángel Guimerá Jorge (1845–1924) | Spain | drama, poetry | 6 members of the Institute of Catalan Studies13 members of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres de Barcelona |
| 13 | Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) | Great Britain | novel, short story, poetry | 70 members of the Royal Society of Literature |
| 14 | Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946) | Germany | drama, novel | Erich Schmidt (1853–1913) |
| 15 | Sven Hedin (1865–1952) | Sweden | essays, autobiography, history | Fredrik Wulff (1845–1930) |
| 16 | Harald Høffding (1843–1931) | Denmark | philosophy, theology | 12 members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters |
| 17 | Henry James (1843–1916) | United States Great Britain | novel, short story, drama, essays | Barrett Wendell (1855–1921)2 members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters |
| 18 | Hans Ernst Kinck (1865–1926) | Norway | philology, novel, short story, drama, essays | Gerhard Gran (1856–1925) |
| 19 | Ernest Lavisse (1842–1922) | France | history | Hans Hildebrand (1842–1913) |
| 20 | Pierre Loti (1850–1923) | France | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | René Bazin (1853–1932)Charles de Freycinet (1828–1923)Gabriel Hanotaux (1853–1944)Paul Thureau-Dangin (1837–1913) |
| 21 | Benito Pérez Galdós (1843–1920) | Spain | novel, short story, drama, essays | more than 700 members of various literary societies in SpainJacinto Octavio Picón (1852–1923) José Echegaray Eizaguirre (1832–1916)Eugenio Sellés Ángel (1842–1926)José Rodríguez Carracido (1856–1928) |
| 22 | Salvador Rueda Santos (1857–1933) | Spain | poetry, essays | 10 professors of the Cardenal Cisneros Institute |
| 23 | Karl Schönherr (1867–1943) | Austria-Hungary | drama, short story, poetry | Karl Johan Warburg (1852–1918) |
| 24 | George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) | Great Britain and Ireland | drama, essays, novel | Kristian Birch-Reichenwald Aars (1868–1917) |
| 25 | Pencho Slaveykov (1866–1912) | Bulgaria | poetry, essays | Alfred Jensen (1859–1921) |
| 26 | Georgios Souris (1853–1919) | Greece | poetry, songwriting | Georgios Hatzidakis (1848–1941) |
| 27 | Carl Spitteler (1845–1924) | Switzerland | poetry, essays | professors in Bern and ZürichWilhelm Oechsli (1851–1919) |
| 28 | Émile Verhaeren (1855–1916) | Belgium | poetry, essays | 2 professors of the Free University of Brussels |
| 29 | Ernst von der Recke (1848–1933) | Denmark | poetry, drama | Thor Lange (1851–1915)Ewert Wrangel (1863–1940) |
| 30 | Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940) | Sweden | novel, short story, poetry | Fredrik Wulff (1845–1930) |