# 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded the Soviet-Russian novelist Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) "for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people." He is the third Russian-speaking author to become the prize's recipient.

## Laureate

Mikhail Sholokhov was born in Vyoshenskaya, Russia. He fought in the Russian Civil War as a Bolshevik at the age of 13. To pursue a career as a journalist, he relocated to Moscow in 1922. He returned to his birthplace two years later and concentrated solely on his literary career. He drew inspiration for his debut book, Donskie Rasskazy ("Tales from the Don", 1925), from his experiences in both the Russian Civil War and World War I.
His magnum opus Tikhii Don ("The Quiet Don", 1928–1966) was published in four volumes (translated as And Quiet Flows the Don (1934); The Don Flows Home to the Sea (1940); Quiet Flows the Don (1966)) to him 14 years to complete. It was praised as a potent illustration of socialist realism and became the most widely-read book in Soviet literature. Sholokhov had a keen interest in how people's lives played out against Russia's changes and problems. It took him 27 years to complete his other significant piece for the Don cycle, Podnyataya Tselina ("Virgin Soil Upturned", 1932–1960).

## Deliberations
### Nominations

Sholokhov started receiving nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature since 1947. He received 20 nominations in total until he was eventually awarded. He received the highest number of nominations in the year 1965.
For this year, the Nobel Committee received 120 nominations for 93 authors including Simon Vestdijk, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Nelly Sachs (awarded in 1966), André Malraux, Ezra Pound, Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971), E. M. Forster, Max Frisch, and Taha Hussein. 21 of the nominees were newly nominated, such as Alejo Carpentier, Konstantin Paustovsky, Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh, Anna Akhmatova, Marguerite Yourcenar, Gyula Illyés, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Gilbert Cesbron, Giovannino Guareschi, and Alan Sillitoe. The highest number of nominations was for the French author André Malraux (with six nominations). Eight of the nominees were women, namely: Marguerite Yourcenar, Judith Wright, Anna Akhmatova, Katherine Anne Porter, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Nelly Sachs, Maria Dąbrowska, and María Raquel Adler.
The authors Jacques Audiberti, Alejandro Casona, Thomas B. Costain, Rampo Edogawa, Eleanor Farjeon, Lorraine Hansberry, Louis Hjelmslev, Mehdi Huseyn, Shirley Jackson, Randall Jarrell, Una Marson, Betty Miller, Edgar Mittelholzer, Fan S. Noli, Dawn Powell, Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., Jack Spicer, Howard Spring, Thomas Sigismund Stribling, Paul Tillich, and Aslaug Vaa died in 1965 without having been nominated for the prize.
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 | William Harkins (1921–2014)Roman Jakobson (1896–1982) |
| 2 | María Raquel Adler (1901–1974) | Argentina | poetry, essays | Catholic University of Cuyo |
| 3 | Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) | West Germany | philosophy, essays | Helmut Viebrock (1912–1997) |
| 4 | Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1887–1970) | Israel | novel, short story | Baruch Kurzweil (1907–1972) |
| 5 | Alceu Amoroso Lima (1893–1983) | Brazil | philosophy, essays, literary criticism | Academia Mineira de Letras |
| 6 | Louis Aragon (1897–1982) | France | novel, short story, poetry, essays | André-Marc Vial (1917–1987)Robert Ricatte (1913–1995)Henri Weber (1914–2015) |
| 7 | Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967) | Romania | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Angelo Monteverdi (1886–1967) |
| 8 | Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899–1974) | Guatemala | novel, short story, poetry, essays, drama | Erik Lindegren (1910–1968) |
| 9 | Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973) | United Kingdom United States | poetry, essays, screenplay | Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992)René Wellek (1903–1995) |
| 10 | Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) | Ireland | novel, drama, poetry | William Stuart Maguinness (1903–1983) |
| 11 | René Béhaine (1880–1966) | France | novel, short story, essays | Yves Gandon (1899–1975) |
| 12 | Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) | Argentina | poetry, essays, translation, short story | Raimundo Lida (1908–1979)The Swedish PEN Club |
| 13 | Henri Bosco (1888–1976) | France | novel, short story | Barthélémy-Antonin Taladoire (1907–1976) |
| 14 | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) | United Kingdom | history, essays, literary criticism, poetry | Ernest Ludwig Stahl (1902–1992) |
| 15 | Martin Buber (1878–1965) | Austria Israel | philosophy | Ragnar Josephson (1891–1966)Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 16 | Heinrich Böll (1917–1985) | West Germany | novel, short story | Gustav Korlén (1915–2014) |
| 17 | Josep Carner (1884–1970) | Spain | poetry, drama, translation | Robert Guiette (1895–1976) |
| 18 | Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) | Cuba | novel, short story, essays | Jean-Louis Flecniakoska (1913–2005) |
| 19 | Gilbert Cesbron (1913–1979) | France | novel, short story, essays, drama, poetry | Pierre Jonin (1912–1997) |
| 20 | André Chamson (1900–1983) | France | novel, essays | Charles Rostaing (1904–1999) |
| 21 | René Char (1907–1988) | France | poetry | Georges Blin (1917–2016) |
| 22 | Maria Dąbrowska (1889–1965) | Poland | novel, short story, essays, drama, literary criticism | Carl Stief (1914–1998) |
| 23 | Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, drama, essays | Paul Gerhard Buchloh (1922–1986) |
| 24 | Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) | Switzerland | drama, novel, short story, essays | Friedrich Sengle (1909–1994) |
| 25 | Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) | Norway | novel, short story, essays | Hans Heiberg (1904–1978) |
| 26 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism | Pierre Legouis (1891–1975) |
| 27 | Max Frisch (1911–1991) | Switzerland | novel, drama | René Kaech (1909–1989)Hans Robert Jauss (1921–1997)H. M. Heinrich (?) |
| 28 | Sudhindra Nath Ghose (1899–1965) | India | novel, short story, essays | Henri de Ziégler (1885–1970) |
| 29 | Gopal Singh (1917–1990) | India | biography, law, essays, translation | Henrik Samuel Nyberg (1889–1974)Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
| 30 | Giovannino Guareschi (1908–1968) | Italy | novel, short story, essays | Mario Manlio Rossi (1895–1971) |
| 31 | Jean Guéhenno (1890–1978) | France | essays, literary criticism | Edmond Jarno (1905–1985) |
| 32 | Jorge Guillén (1893–1984) | Spain | poetry, literary criticism | Henri Peyre (1901–1988) |
| 33 | Jean Guitton (1901–1999) | France | philosophy, theology | Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990) |
| 34 | Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) | Iceland | novel, short story, poetry | Stellan Arvidson (1902–1997) |
| 35 | Leslie Poles Hartley (1895–1972) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays | Geoffrey Tillotson (1905–1969) |
| 36 | Pêr-Jakez Helias (1914–1995) | France | poetry, drama, essays | André Lebois (1915–1978) |
| 37 | Taha Hussein (1889–1973) | Egypt | novel, short story, poetry, translation | Charles Pellat (1914–1992) |
| 38 | Gyula Illyés (1902–1983) | Hungary | poetry, novel, drama, essays | János Lotz (1913–1973) |
| 39 | Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980) | Poland | poetry, essays, drama, translation, short story, novel | Jean Fabre (1904–1975) |
| 40 | Mohammad-Ali Jamalzadeh (1892–1997) | Iran | short story, translation | Richard Nelson Frye (1920–2014) |
| 41 | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) | Sweden | novel, short story | Carl-Eric Thors (1920–1986) |
| 42 | Marcel Jouhandeau (1888–1979) | France | short story, novel | Jean Gaulmier (1905–1997) |
| 43 | Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) | West Germany | philosophy, novel, memoir | Rudolf Till (1911–1979)Léon Cellier (1911–1976) |
| 44 | Marie Luise Kaschnitz (1901–1974) | West Germany | novel, short story, essays, drama | Hermann Tiemann (1899–1981) |
| 45 | Yasunari Kawabata (1899–1972) | Japan | novel, short story | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 46 | Miroslav Krleža (1893–1981) | Yugoslavia | poetry, drama, short story, novel, essays | Association of Writers of Yugoslavia |
| 47 | Erich Kästner (1899–1974) | West Germany | poetry, screenplay, autobiography | Werner Betz (1912–1980) |
| 48 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Georges Vallet (1922–994)Victor Brombert (1923–2024)Yves Le Hir (1919–2005)John Martin Cocking (1914–1986)Henri Peyre (1901–1988)Robert Niklaus (1910–2001) |
| 49 | Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) | France | philosophy, drama | Olof Gigon (1912–1998) |
| 50 | William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays | Jean-Albert Bédé (1903–1977) |
| 51 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history | Gunnar Tilander (1894–1973)Rudolf Großmann (1882–1941)H. Baader (?)Hans Flasche (1911–1994)Olaf Deutschmann (1912–1989) |
| 52 | Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) | Japan | novel, short story, drama, literary criticism | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 53 | Vilhelm Moberg (1898–1973) | Sweden | novel, drama, history | Gösta Bergman (1894–1984) |
| 54 | Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) | France | essays, novel, drama | Louis Moulinier (1904–1971) |
| 56 | Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) | Italy | novel, literary criticism, essays, drama | Uberto Limentani (1913–1989) |
| 57 | Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) | Russia United States | novel, short story, poetry, drama, translation, literary criticism, memoir | Andrew Chiappe (1915–1967)Frederick Wilcox Dupee (1904–1979) |
| 58 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) | Chile | poetry | Lennart Breitholtz (1909–1998)University of ChileJuan Marichal (1922–2010) |
| 59 | Junzaburō Nishiwaki (1894–1982) | Japan | poetry, literary criticism | Naoshirō Tsuji (1899–1979) |
| 60 | Konstantin Paustovsky (1892–1968) | Soviet Union | novel, poetry, drama | Karl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
| 61 | Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980) | United States | short story, essays | George Hendrick (1929–2021) |
| 62 | Ezra Pound (1885–1972) | United States | poetry, essays | Hans Galinsky (1909–1991) |
| 63 | Zayn al-ʻĀbidīn Rahnamā (1894–1990) | Iran | history, essays, translation | Ali-Asghar Hekmat (1893–1980) |
| 64 | Wilhelm Röpke (1899–1966) | West Germany Switzerland | essays | Olof Gigon (1912–1998) |
| 65 | Nelly Sachs (1891–1970) | West Germany Sweden | poetry, drama | Gunnar Tideström (1906–1985)Henry Olsson (1896–1985) |
| 66 | Aksel Sandemose (1899–1965) | Denmark Norway | novel, essays | Eyvind Johnson (1900–1976) |
| 67 | Alan Sillitoe (1928–2010) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, essays, poetry, translation | Robert Graves (1895–1985) |
| 68 | Georges Simenon (1903–1989) | Belgium | novel, short story, memoir | René Kaech (1909–1989) |
| 69 | Upton Sinclair (1878–1968) | United States | novel, short story, drama, autobiography, essays | Sidney Kaplan (1913–1993) |
| 70 | Charles Percy Snow (1905–1980) | United Kingdom | novel, essays | Friedrich Schubel (1904–1991)Sylvère Monod (1921–2006) |
| 71 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) | Soviet Union | novel | Konstantin Fedin (1892–1977)Leonid Leonov (1899–1994)Aleksandr Tvardovsky (1910–1971)Alexey Surkov (1899–1983)Ivan Anisimov (1899–1966)Nikolai Iosifovich Konrad (1891–1970)Michail Khraptchenko (1904–1986)Viktor Vinogradov (1895–1969)John Stephenson Spink (1909–1985)André-Marc Vial (1917–1987) |
| 72 | Carl Erik Soya (1896–1983) | Denmark | short story, drama, screenplay, poetry, essays | The Danish PEN-Club |
| 73 | Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969) | Belgium | novel, short story | Maurice Gilliams (1900–1982) |
| 74 | Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886–1965) | Japan | novel, short story | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 75 | Gustave Thibon (1903–2001) | France | philosophy | Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990) |
| 76 | Miguel Torga (1907–1995) | Portugal | poetry, short story, novel, drama, autobiography | Göran Hammarström (1922–2019) |
| 80 | Lionel Trilling (1905–1975) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story | Lewis Gaston Leary (1906–1990) |
| 81 | Henri Troyat (1911–2007) | France | novel, biography, history | Ernst Dickenmann (1902–1985) |
| 82 | Pietro Ubaldi (1886–1972) | Italy | philosophy, essays | Academia Santista de Letras |
| 83 | Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) | Italy | poetry, essays, literary criticism | Otis Fellows (1908–1993) |
| 84 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel | Elie Poulenard (1901–1985)Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975) |
| 85 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | Dutch Academy of SciencesThe Dutch PEN-ClubKarl Ragnar Gierow (1904–1982) |
| 86 | Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989) | United States | novel, poetry, essays, literary criticism | Cleanth Brooks (1906–1994) |
| 87 | Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) | United States | drama, novel, short story | Frederick Albert Pottle (1897–1987)Peter Wapnewski (1922–2012) |
| 88 | Edmund Wilson (1895–1972) | United States | essays, literary criticism, short story, drama | Wiktor Weintraub (1908–1988)Douglas Bush (1896–1983) |
| 89 | Judith Wright (1915–2000) | Australia | poetry, literary criticism, novel, essays | Greta Hort (1903–1967) |
| 90 | Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987) | France | novel, essays, poetry | Ida-Marie Frandon (1907–1997) |
| 91 | Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui (1901–1982) | Spain | novel | Elie Poulenard (1901–1985) |
| 92 | Arnold Zweig (1887–1968) | East Germany | novel, short story | Deutsche Academy of ArtsRudolph Ruzicka (1883–1978) |
| 93 | Arnulf Øverland (1889–1968) | Norway | poetry, essays | Francis Bull (1887–1974)Andreas Hofgaard Winsnes (1889–1972) |

### Prize decision

The Nobel committee of the Swedish Academy was unanimous to propose that the prize should be awarded to Mikhail Sholokhov, who had been a candidate for many years and a main candidate for the prize the previous year. The committee discussed a proposal to share the prize between Sholokhov and Anna Akhmatova, but the idea was rejected by the committees' chairman Anders Österling saying that the authors had nothing but their language in common. The committee also discussed the possibility of a shared prize to Miguel Angel Asturias and Jorge Luis Borges, and to Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs respectively.

## Reactions

The choice of Sholokhov was widely criticised for being allegedly politically motivated, but was celebrated by the authorities in the Soviet Union.