# 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French Catholic writer François Mauriac (1885–1970) "for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life." He is the eight French author to receive the prize after the novelist André Gide in 1947.

## Laureate

François Mauriac made his breakthrough with the poetry book Les Mains jointes ("Clasped Hands", 1909), but went on to become as a dramatist and novelist. His works are frequently set in and around Bordeaux, France, and investigate human nature through the lens of Catholicism. The characters struggle with money, self-righteousness, and guilt. As a result, Mauriac has been portrayed as a misanthrope at times, but he replied to this criticism by stating that the repeated messages in his writings about divine mercy and compassion were designed to inspire hope and confidence. His most well-known works include La Chair et le Sang ("Flesh and Blood", 1920), Le Désert de l'amour ("The Desert of Love", 1925), Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), Le Nœud de vipères ("Vipers' Tangle", 1932).

## Deliberations
### Nominations

In total, the Swedish Academy's Nobel Committee received 57 nominations for 40 writers. Fourteen of the nominees were newly nominated such as Paul Vialar, Juan Ramón Jiménez (awarded in 1956), Walter de la Mare, Julien Benda, Salvador de Madariaga, Albert Schweitzer (awarded the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize), Werner Bergengruen, and Van Wyck Brooks. Only one female author was nominate: Spanish author Concha Espina de la Serna.
The authors August Alle, Mariano Azuela, Ioan Alecu Bassarabescu, Margaret Wise Brown, Paul Bujor, Romain Coolus, Annie Sophie Cory, Norman Douglas, Paul Éluard, Jeffery Farnol, Gilbert Frankau, Cicely Hamilton, Aaro Hellaakoski, Masao Kume, Nadezhda Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya (known as Teffi), Harold John Massingham, Charles Maurras, Ferenc Molnár, Maria Montessori, Pedro Prado, Josephine Tey, Lodewijk van Deyssel, Louis Verneuil, Clara Viebig, and Roger Vitrac died in 1952 without having been nominated for the prize. The Belgian writer Charles Plisnier died months before the announcement.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize :
| No. | Nominee | Country | Genre(s) | Nominator(s) |
| 1 | Mark Aldanov (1886–1957) | Soviet Union ( Ukraine) France | biography, novel, essays, literary criticism | Ivan Bunin (1870–1953) |
| 2 | Louis Artus (1870–1960) | France | drama, novel, literary criticism, essays | André Maurois (1885–1967)Louis Madelin (1871–1956) |
| 3 | Julien Benda (1867–1956) | France | novel, philosophy, essays, literary criticism | Hans Peter Sørensen (1886–1962) |
| 4 | Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964) | West Germany | novel, short story, poetry | Hans Neumann (1903–1990) |
| 5 | Jacobus Cornelis Bloem (1887–1966) | Netherlands | poetry, essays | The Dutch PEN-Club |
| 6 | Van Wyck Brooks (1886–1963) | United States | literary criticism, biography, history, essays | Paul Manship (1885–1966) Pearl Buck (1892–1973) |
| 7 | Albert Camus (1913–1960) | France ( Algeria) | novel, short story, essays, philosophy, drama | Hjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961) |
| 8 | Hans Carossa (1878–1956) | West Germany | poetry, autobiography, essays | Hans Heinrich Borcherdt (1887–1964) |
| 9 | Winston Churchill (1874–1965) | United Kingdom | history, essays, memoir | Asta Kihlbom (1892–1984)Birger Nerman (1888–1971)Gustaf Hellström (1882–1953) |
| 10 | Benedetto Croce (1866–1952) | Italy | history, philosophy, law | Accademia dei LinceiHarry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 11 | Walter de la Mare (1873–1956) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, poetry, literary criticism, essays | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 12 | Salvador de Madariaga (1886–1978) | Spain | essays, history, law, novel | Sigurd Erixon (1888–1968) |
| 13 | Concha Espina de la Serna (1869–1955) | Spain | novel, short story | Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San FernandoJosé María Pemán (1897–1981)Gerardo Diego (1896–1987)Jacinto Benavente (1866–1954) |
| 14 | José Maria Ferreira de Castro (1898–1978) | Portugal | novel | João de Barros (1881–1960) |
| 15 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism | The English PEN-Club |
| 16 | Robert Frost (1874–1963) | United States | poetry, drama | Edwin Harrison Cady (1917–2003) |
| 17 | Manuel Gálvez (1882–1962) | Argentina | novel, poetry, drama, essays, history, biography | Sociedad Argentina de Escritores |
| 18 | Jean Giono (1895–1970) | France | novel, short story, essays, poetry, drama | Société des gens de lettres |
| 19 | Enrique González Martínez (1871–1952) | Mexico | poetry | Academia Mexicana de la Lengua |
| 20 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Hjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961) |
| 21 | Taha Hussein (1889–1973) | Egypt | novel, short story, poetry, translation | Karl Vilhelm Zetterstéen (1866–1953) |
| 22 | Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) | Spain | poetry, novel | Maurice Bowra (1898–1971) |
| 23 | Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) | Greece | novel, philosophy, essays, drama, memoir, translation | Norwegian Authors' Union |
| 24 | Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) | Iceland | novel, short story, drama, poetry | Einar Sveinsson (1906–1973)Jón Helgason (1899–1986)Sigurður Nordal (1886–1974) |
| 25 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Jean-Marie Carré (1887–1958) |
| 26 | François Mauriac (1885–1970) | France | novel, short story | Oscar Wieselgren (1886–1971)Prince Wilhelm, Duke of Södermanland (1884–1965) |
| 27 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history | 100 institutions and individualsAcademia Argentina de LetrasAcademia Chilena de la LenguaRoyal Spanish Academy |
| 28 | Charles Plisnier (1896–1952) | Belgium | novel, short story, poetry, essays | Association des Écrivains BelgesAcadémie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique |
| 29 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) | India | philosophy, essays, law | The Indian PEN-Club |
| 30 | Henriette Roland Holst (1869–1952) | Netherlands | poetry, essays, biography | The Dutch PEN-Club |
| 31 | Jules Romains (1885–1972) | France | poetry, drama, screenplay | Maurice Gravier (1912–1992)Alfred Jolivet (1885–1966) |
| 32 | Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) | United States | poetry, essays, biography | Axel Boëthius (1889–1969) |
| 33 | Jean Schlumberger (1877–1968) | France | poetry, essays | International Centre of the PEN Club |
| 34 | Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) | France (born in Germany) | philosophy, theology, essays | Nils Ahnlund (1889–1957) |
| 35 | Zalman Shneour (1887–1959) | Belarus United States | poetry, essays | Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai (1886–1973)Joseph Klausner (1874–1958) |
| 36 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel | Olav Midttun (1883–1972) |
| 37 | Simon Vestdijk (1898–1971) | Netherlands | novel, poetry, essays, translation | The Dutch PEN-Club |
| 38 | Paul Vialar (1898–1996) | France | novel, short story, essays, drama | Société des gens de lettres |
| 39 | Mika Waltari (1908–1979) | Finland | short story, novel, poetry, drama, essays, screenplay | Aarne Anttila (1892–1952) |
| 40 | John Dover Wilson (1881–1969) | United Kingdom | essays, literary criticism | Charles Jasper Sisson (1885–1966) |

## Reactions

The choice of Mauriac was well received: "the choice of the Royal Swedish Academy will be generally applauded", Émile Henriot of the Académie française stated in Le Monde. "The writer who is today the object of this consecration, which is equivalent to access to a sort of international and ideal Academy, is worthy of this flattering and appreciable distinction. It comes to reward a very fine literary talent, recognized among us even by those who do not agree on all points with the beliefs, the choices, the enmities of Mr. François Mauriac; and similarly recognized as representative and universally valid beyond our borders."

## Award ceremony speech

At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1952, Anders Österling, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, praised the artistic qualities of Mauriac's work and said:
   for everywhere, in the whole series of Mauriac’s novels, are found unforgettable scenes, dialogues, and situations, so mysteriously and so cruelly revealing. The repetition of the same themes could create a certain monotony, but his acute analyses and sure touch awaken the same admiration with each new encounter. Mauriac remains unequalled in conciseness and expressive force of language; his prose can in a few suggestive lines shed light on the most complex and difficult things. His most remarkable works are characterized by a purity of logic and classic economy of expression that recall the tragedies of Racine. (...) Faithful to the truth which he has made his, he strives to describe his characters in such a way that, seeing themselves as they are, they would be stricken with repentance and the desire to become, if not better, at least a little less evil. His novels can be compared to narrow but deep wells at the bottom of which a mysterious water is seen glistening in the darkness.