# 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) "for his lyrical poetry, which in Spanish language constitutes an example of high spirit and artistical purity" He is the third Spanish recipient of the prize after the dramatist Jacinto Benavente in 1922.

## Laureate

Juan Ramón Jiménez belonged to the literary movement called modernismo. His early poetry was inspired by German romanticism and French symbolism that is visual and full of imagery and predominated by the colors yellow and green. Then he later turned to poetic prose in which the color white predominates; this is clearly evident in Diario de un poeta recién casado ("Diary of a Recently Married Poet", 1917). Jimenez worked as a poet, literary critic and editor of a literary magazine. Among his famous poem collections include Platero y yo ("Platero and I", 1956), Piedra y cielo ("Stones and Sky", 1919), and Voces de mi copla ("Voices of My Song", 1945)

## Deliberations
### Nominations

Jiménez was first nominated in 1952 before being awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature. Each year he received a single nomination, summing up to 5 nominations in all. His last nomination was made by the Swedish academy member, Harry Martinson.
In total, the Nobel committee received 158 nominations for 44 writers. Among the nominees include Graham Greene, Nikos Kazantzakis, André Malraux, Albert Camus (awarded in 1957), Zalman Shneour, Johan Falkberget, Ezra Pound, and Giuseppe Ungaretti. The most nominations were for Ramón Menéndez Pidal with 95 nominations, but was not awarded. Seventeen of the nominees were nominated first-time including Henry de Montherlant, Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Pagnol, Gabriel Marcel, Gonzague de Reynold, Pablo Neruda (awarded in 1971), and Jules Supervielle. Four of the nominees were women: Melpo Axioti, Elizabeth Goudge, Marthe Bibesco, and Karen Blixen.
The authors Pío Baroja, Devorah Baron, Edmund Clerihew Bentley, Louis Bromfield, Carlos Bulosan, Ion Călugăru, Owen Davis, Alexander Fadeyev, Sheila Kaye-Smith, Yakub Kolas, Paul Léautaud, Louis Madelin, Henry Louis Mencken, Alan Alexander Milne, Leonora Speyer, Michael Ventris, Samad Vurgun, and Robert Walser died in 1956 without having been nominated for the prize. German playwright Bertolt Brecht died before the only chance to be rewarded.
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 | Samson Soloveitchik (1887–1974) |
| 2 | Melpo Axioti (1905–1973) | Greece | novel, short story, poetry | André Bonnard (1888–1959) |
| 3 | Eugène Baie (1874–1964) | Belgium | law, essays | Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of BelgiumNils Ahnlund (1889–1957) |
| 4 | Gottfried Benn (1886–1956) | West Germany | poetry, essays | Ernst Alker (1895–1972) |
| 5 | Marthe Bibesco (1886–1973) | Romania France | novel, poetry, memoir | Marie-Jeanne Durry (1901–1980)Fernand Desonay (1899–1973)Henri Davignon (1879–1964)Auguste-Armand de la Force (1878–1961) |
| 6 | Karen Blixen (1885–1962) | Denmark | novel, short story, memoir | Birger Ekeberg (1880–1968)Nils Ahnlund (1889–1957) |
| 7 | Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) | Argentina | poetry, essays, translation, short story | René Étiemble (1909–2002) |
| 8 | Henri Bosco (1888–1976) | France | novel, short story | Raymond Las Vergnas (1902–1994) |
| 9 | Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) | East Germany | drama, screenplay, poetry, novel, essays | André Bonnard (1888–1959) |
| 10 | Albert Camus (1913–1960) | France ( Algeria) | novel, short story, essays, philosophy, drama | Bo Bergman (1869–1967)Birger Ekeberg (1880–1968) |
| 11 | Hans Carossa (1878–1956) | West Germany | poetry, autobiography, essays | Maurice Le Boucher (1882–1964) |
| 12 | Francesco Chiesa (1871–1973) | Switzerland | poetry, short story, essays | Henri de Ziégler (1885–1970)Giovanni Laini (1899–1985) |
| 13 | Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972) | France | essays, novel, drama | Henri Morier (1910–2004) |
| 14 | Gonzague de Reynold (1880–1970) | Switzerland | history, essays, biography, memoir | Pierre-Henri Simon (1903–1972) |
| 15 | Georges Duhamel (1884–1966) | France | novel, short story, poetry, drama, literary criticism | Jean Carrière (1928–2005)Pierre Jourda (1898–1978)Odette Bornand (1924–2009)Jacqueline Duchemin (1910–1988)M. Ricci (?) |
| 16 | Johan Falkberget (1879–1967) | Norway | novel, short story, essays | Harald Beyer (1891–1960) |
| 17 | Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958) | Germany | novel, drama | Walter Arthur Berendsohn (1884–1984) |
| 18 | Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, drama, essays, biography, literary criticism | Pierre Legouis (1891–1973) |
| 19 | Christopher Fry (1907–2005) | United Kingdom | poetry, drama, screenplay | Werner Kohlschmidt (1904–1983) |
| 20 | Graham Greene (1904–1991) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, autobiography, essays | Kristian Smidt (1916–2013)Hans Walter Häusermann (1902–1973) |
| 21 | Armand Godoy (1880–1964) | Cuba France | poetry, translation | Antonio Iraizoz Villar (1890–1976) |
| 22 | Elizabeth Goudge (1900–1984) | United Kingdom | novel, short story, biography, autobiography | Edmond Privat (1889–1962) |
| 23 | Jean Guitton (1901–1999) | France | philosophy, theology | Édouard Delebecque (1910–1990) |
| 24 | Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958) | Spain | poetry, novel | Harry Martinson (1904–1978) |
| 25 | Ernst Jünger (1895–1998) | West Germany | philosophy, novel, memoir | Maurice Le Boucher (1882–1964) |
| 26 | Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) | Greece | novel, philosophy, essays, drama, memoir, translation | Samuel Baud-Bovy (1906–1986)Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975)Society of Men of Letters of Greece |
| 27 | André Malraux (1901–1976) | France | novel, essays, literary criticism | Marius-François Guyard (1921–2011)Pierre-Georges Castex (1915–1995)Marcel Ruff (1896–1993) |
| 28 | Gabriel Marcel (1889–1973) | France | philosophy, drama | Jules-Augustin Bizet (1908–1977) |
| 29 | Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968) | Spain | philology, history | Ángel Rosenblat (1902–1984)9 professors at the Central University of VenezuelaJosé Ramón de Ayala Duarte (1878–1966)Mariano Picón Salas (1901–1965)William Fortune Smith (1931–2016)María Concepción Zardoya (1914–2004)Raymond Smith Willis (1906–1991)Tomás Navarro Tomás (1884–1979)Amelia Agostini de Del Río (1896–1996)Joaquín Casalduero (1903–1990)Norman Torrey (1894–1980)Vicente Gaos (1919–1980)Ernesto Guerra Da Cal (1911–1994)Hispanic Society of AmericaFrancisco Sánchez-Castañer (1908–1981)Harry Kurz (1889–1973)John Joseph Spagnoli (1914–2008)René Taupin (1905–1981)Maír José Benardete (1895–1989)Ángel del Río (1900–1962)Leo Spitzer (1887–1960)Edwin Morby (1909–1985)Juan López-Morillas (1913–1997)Raimundo Lida (1908–1979)Sylvanus Griswold Morley (1896–1969)William Fichter (1892–1985)Joan Coromines (1905–1997)María Rosa Lida de Malkiel (1910–1962)Yakov Malkiel (1914–1998)Edmund Schramm (1902–1974)Erich von Richthofen (1913–1988)Hans Rheinfelder (1898–1971)Günther Reichenkron (1907–1966)Fritz Neubert (1886–1970)Harri Meier (1905–1990)Wilhelm Neuss (1880–1965)Erhard Lommatzsch (1886–1975)Wilhelm Kellermann (1907–1980)Rudolf Großmann (1882–1941)Hugo Friedrich (1904–1978)Hans Flasche (1911–1994)Khalil Mardam Bey (1895–1959)Gunnar Tilander (1894–1973)Manuel Muñoz Cortés (1915–2000)Ángel Valbuena Prat (1900–1977)Mariano Baquero Goyanes (1923–1984)Luciano de la Calzada Rodríguez (1909–1974)Alonso Zamora Vicente (1916–2006)16 members of the Real Academia de la HistoriaAlfredo Kindelán (1879–1962)Gabriel Maura (1879–1963)Luis Redonet López-Dóriga (1875–1972)Rafael Benítez Claros (1919–1972)Emilio Alarcos Llorach (1922–1998)Martí de Riquer i Morera (1914–2013)14 professors at the University of BarcelonaAntoni Maria Badia i Margarit (1920–2014)Antonio Llorente Maldonado (1922–1998)Antonio Gallego Morell (1923–2009)Emilio Orozco Díaz (1909–1987)Manuel Alvar (1923–2001)Emilio Alarcos García (1895–1986)Vicente Palacio Atard (1920–2013)Juan José Martín González (1923–2009)Alfonso Corral Castanedo (1921–2014)Francisco Ynduráin (1910–1994)professors at the University of Sevilla12 professors of the National Hispanic InstituteJoan Maluquer de Motes (1915–1988)Ramon d'Abadal i de Vinyals (1888–1970)13 members of the Royal Spanish AcademyGerardo Diego (1896–1987)Melchor Fernández Almagro (1893–1966)Rafael Lapesa (1908–2001)Vicente García de Diego (1878–1978)Julio Casares (1877–1964)Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and AntiquitiesWalther von Wartburg (1888–1971)Ramon Sugranyes de Franch (1911–2011)Academia Salvadoreña de la LenguaJúlio Dantas (1876–1962)Nobumoto Ōhama (1891–1976)Fukutarō Okui (1939–1965)Fouad Ephrem Boustany (1904–1994)Angelo Monteverdi (1886–1967)Alfonsina Braun (1906–1970)Felice Battaglia (1902–1977)Edward Riley (1933–2001)Jonas Andries van Praag (1895–1969)Aurelio Viñas (1892–1958)Robert Ricard (1900–1984)William Nitze (1876–1957)Pierre Le Gentil (1906–1989)Elie Lambert (1888–1961)Raymond Cantel (1914–1986)Veikko Väänänen (1905–1997)Manuel Briones (1893–1957)Philippine Academy of the Spanish LanguageEdward Meryon Wilson (1906–1977)Albert Sloman (1921–2012)Peter Edward Lionel Russell (1913–2006)Joseph Watkin Rees (1894–1976)Alexander Augustine Parker (1908–1989)William Christopher Atkinson (1902–1992)Andreas Blinkenberg (1893–1982)Academia Cubana de la LenguaHonoré Marie van Waeyenbergh (1891–1971)Fritz Krüger (1889–1974)James Shearer (?)Gilles-Gaston Granger (1920–2016)Lawton P. G. Peckham (1904–1979)Olaf Deutschmann (1912–1989)Leonida Biancolini (1890–1968)Emiliano Diez Echarri (?)Martín Ruipérez (1923–2015)Eric Jules François Arnould (?)E. Kohler (?)Jesús Castañon, O.P. (?)Fredrik Norman (?)João Paulo do Vale de Medeiros (?)Luis Suárez Fernández (1924–2024) |
| 30 | Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) | Chile | poetry | André Joucla-Ruau (1923–1972) |
| 31 | Marcel Pagnol (1895–1974) | France | novel, memoir, drama, screenplay | Jean Ricci (1933–2011) |
| 32 | Saint-John Perse (1887–1975) | France | poetry | Marcel Raymond (1897–1981)Roger Martin du Gard (1881–1958) |
| 33 | Ezra Pound (1885–1972) | United States | poetry, essays | Erik Hjalmar Linder (1906–1994) |
| 34 | Vasco Pratolini (1913–1991) | Italy | novel, short story | Paul Renucci (1915–1976) |
| 35 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1888–1975) | India | philosophy, essays, law | Nirmal Kumar Sidhanta (1929–2014) |
| 36 | Alfonso Reyes Ochoa (1889–1959) | Mexico | philosophy, essays, novel, poetry | National Autonomous University of Mexico |
| 37 | Jean Schlumberger (1877–1968) | France | poetry, essays | Pierre Legouis (1891–1973) |
| 38 | Zalman Shneour (1887–1959) | Soviet Union ( Belarus) United States | poetry, essays | Robert Henry Pfeiffer (1892–1958) |
| 39 | Mikhail Sholokhov (1905–1984) | Soviet Union | novel | Johannes Andreasson Dale (1898–1975)André Bonnard (1888–1959) |
| 40 | Stijn Streuvels (1871–1969) | Belgium | novel, short story | Pierre Brachin (1914–2004) |
| 41 | Jules Supervielle (1884–1960) | France Uruguay | poetry, novel, short story | Maurice Le Boucher (1882–1964) |
| 42 | George Macauley Trevelyan (1876–1962) | United Kingdom | biography, autobiography, essays, history | Nils Ahnlund (1889–1957) |
| 43 | Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970) | Italy | poetry, essays, literary criticism | Marcel Raymond (1897–1981) |
| 44 | Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) | Norway | poetry, novel | Sigmund Skard (1903–1995)Harald Beyer (1891–1960) |

## Reactions

The strongest contender for the 1956 Nobel Prize was the Spanish historian and philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal with 95 nominations from academics, critics, authors, literary societies and politicians. His surmounting nomination was snubbed instead by the Swedish Academy and given to the poet, Juan Ramón Jiménez, who was nominated by Harry Martinson, an academy member. The rejection of Menéndez Pidal sparked heavy criticisms from the literary world. He received 154 nominations in all since 1931 up to 1968, the year he died.
The Nobel citation for Juan Ramón Jiménez, says:
   "This year's laureate is the last survivor of the famous "generation of 1898". For a generation of poets on both sides of the ocean which separates, and at the same time, unites the Hispanic countries, he has been a master – the master, in effect. When the Swedish Academy renders homage to Juan Ramón Jiménez, it renders homage also to an entire epoch in the glorious Spanish literature."
According to Burton Feldman, in his book The Nobel Prize: A History of Geniuses Controversy, and Prestige, the selection of Jiménez was made as form of recompense for the neglected past generation of writers who had set out a unique revival of Spanish writing in 1898, which includes Antonio and Manuel Machado, Ramón del Valle-Inclán, Miguel de Unamuno, the Nicaraguan Rubén Darío (then living in Spain), and Jiménez among them. Feldman said: "But making him a stand-in for a neglected generation renders his own honor ambiguous. Did he deserve the honor on his own, or because the others died ignored and he happened to live so long?"

## Award Ceremony

At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1956, Hjalmar Gullberg of the Swedish Academy said:
   A long life consecrated to poetry and to beauty has been honoured this year with the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is an old gardener, this Juan Ramón, who has dedicated half a century to the creation of a new rose, a white mystical rose, which will bear his name. (...)
   In the annals of the Nobel Prize, Spanish literature has been one of the distant gardens. Very rarely have we cast a glance inside. This year’s laureate is the last survivor of the famous “generation of 1898”. For a generation of poets on both sides of the ocean which separates, and at the same time, unites the Hispanic countries, he has been a master – the master, in effect. When the Swedish Academy renders homage to Juan Ramón Jiménez, it renders homage also to an entire epoch in the glorious Spanish literature.

## Nobel banquet

Jiménez was unable to be present at the award ceremony and the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, December 10, 1956, thus his speech was read by Jaime Benítez Rexach, Rector of the University of Puerto Rico. His very reasons why he was unable to participate in the event was that he was emotionally devastated over the death of his wife, Zenobia Camprubí, from ovarian cancer and because of his intermittent sickness caused by old age. In his sorrow, Jiménez said: "Besieged by sorrow and sickness, I must remain in Puerto Rico, unable to participate directly in the solemnities... My wife Zenobia is the true winner of this Prize. Her companionship, her help, her inspiration made, for forty years, my work possible. Today, without her, I am desolate and helpless."
Prior to the speech, Ragnar Granit, a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, said of Juan Ramón Jiménez:
   Juan Ramón has been called a poet for poets, but the layman can approach him if willing first to partake passively of the sheer visual beauty of his landscape, lovely Andalusia, its birds, its flowers, pomegranates, and oranges. Once inside his world, by leisurely reading and rereading, one gradually awakens to a new «living insight» into it, refreshed by the depth and richness of a rare poetical imagination.