# 1921 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1921 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French author Anatole France "in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament".

## Laureate

Anatole France (pseudonym for Jacques-Anatole-François Thibault, 1844-1924) started writing poems in the classical tradition, but became known for his prose works. His stories and novels are noted for wit and irony, scepticism, social preoccupations and clarity in the classical tradition. Notable works include the four volume novel sequence collected under the title L'Histoire contemporaine ("A Chronicle of Our Own Times", 1897–1901). His famous oeuvres include Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard ("The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard", 1881), La Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque ("At the Sign of the Reine Pédauque", 1892), Les dieux ont soif ("The Gods Are Athirst", 1912) and La Révolte des anges ("The Revolt of the Angels", 1914).

## Nominations

Anatole France was nominatad 13 times since 1904 before he was awarded. He was first introduced for the Nobel Prize by French politician Marcellin Berthelot. In 1921, three nominations from Erik Staaff, Johan Vising and Emanuel Walberg was submitted for him to the Nobel committee. In total, the Nobel Committee received 18 nominees which included Arno Holz, Arne Garborg, Gunnar Gunnarsson, W. B. Yeats (awarded in 1923), George Bernard Shaw (awarded in 1925), Grazia Deledda (awarded in 1926), Henri Bergson (awarded in 1927) and John Galsworthy (awarded in 1932). Five of the nominees were newly nominated: Jacinto Benavente (awarded in 1922), Jean Revel, Émile Boutroux, Stefan Zeromski, and H. G. Wells. Deledda was the only female nominee during this year.
The authors Jean Aicard, Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Hester A. Benedict, Maximilian Berlitz, Alexander Blok, Luca Caragiale, Georges Darien, Georges Feydeau, Otto von Gierke, Rosetta Luce Gilchrist, Nikolai Gumilev, John Habberton, Sarah Dyer Hobart, E. W. Hornung, Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Maria I. Johnston, Peter Kropotkin, Jeanne Lapauze, Lillian Rozell Messenger, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Abba Goold Woolson and Maria Amália Vaz de Carvalho died in 1921 without having been nominated.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize :
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
| 1 | Ferdinand Avenarius (1856–1923) | Germany | poetry | Karl Groos (1861–1946) Rudolf Christoph Eucken (1846–1926) |
| 2 | Jacinto Benavente (1866–1954) | Spain | drama | 21 members of Royal Spanish Academy |
| 3 | Henri Bergson (1859–1941) | France | philosophy | Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)members of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiquesmembers of the Académie Française |
| 4 | Émile Boutroux (1845–1921) | France | philosophy | Harald Hjärne (1848–1922) |
| 5 | Otokar Březina (1868–1929) | Czechoslovakia | poetry, essays | Arne Novák (1880–1939) |
| 6 | Grazia Deledda (1871–1936) | Kingdom of Italy | novel, short story, essays | 17 members of the Accademia dei LinceiCarl Bildt (1850–1931) |
| 7 | Anatole France (1844–1924) | France | poetry, essays, drama, novel, literary criticism | Emanuel Walberg (1873–1951)Johan Vising (1855–1942)Erik Staaff (1867–1936) |
| 8 | John Galsworthy (1867–1933) | Great Britain | novel, drama, essays, short story, memoir | Anders Österling (1884–1981) |
| 9 | Arne Garborg (1851–1921) | Norway | novel, poetry, drama, essays | Frits Läffler (1847–1921) |
| 10 | Ángel Guimerá Jorge (1845–1924) | Spain | drama, poetry | members of the Reial Acadèmia de Bones Lletres |
| 11 | Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975) | Iceland | novel, short story, poetry | Adolf Noreen (1854–1925) |
| 12 | Arno Holz (1863–1929) | Germany | poetry, drama, essays | 49 members of the Society of Authors |
| 13 | Alois Jirásek (1851–1930) | Czechoslovakia | novel, drama | Czech Academy of Sciences |
| 14 | Jean Revel (1848–1925) | France | history, short story | Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Rouen |
| 15 | George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) | Ireland | drama, essays, novel | Henrik Schück (1855–1947) |
| 16 | Herbert George Wells (1866–1946) | Great Britain | novel, short story, essays, history, biography | Henrik Schück (1855–1947) |
| 17 | William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) | Ireland | poetry, drama, essays | Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931) |
| 18 | Stefan Żeromski (1864–1925) | Poland | novel, drama, short story | members of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences |

## Prize decision

Anatole France had long been mentioned in the press as a popular choice for the Nobel prize. He had been discussed by the Nobel committee for the 1904 prize, but his candidacy was then dismissed by the committee, partly because of the "offensive eroticism" in his novels which according to committee member Carl David af Wirsén was not in line with Alfred Nobels guideline of an "ideal direction". Later Anatole France's left wing political views was also held against him by Wirsén. The Nobel committee recommended that the 1921 prize should be awarded to John Galsworthy, but committee member Henrik Schück successfully argued for a prize to France, who subsequently was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in literature.