Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-19
WOMAN WHOCOT NOBEL PRIZE
Selma LsgerlOf Has Long Been a Pop
ul1r Author in Sweden.
HER COUETRYNEK KNEW HER
First of Her C~ountrymen TO Receive
Nobel Price Of Forty Thousand
DoIIars-Her Latest story
= Parry Tale.


NEW YORK. Dec. iG-This year for the
first time the Nobel prize for literature
has been awarded to a woman. Miss selma
LagerIof. the Swedish writer. Last year it
was bestowed upon Prof. Euken Of Jena
university. the year before that Kiphng
received Il and the year before that Born
stjerne Bjornson. The prize is a purse Of
$4,000 and is awarded by the Swedish
academy. which is composed Of eighteen
members.
Mrs Velma SvsnstOn Howard. who is
I the translator Of Miss Lagerlofs works
and lives al ~ West Seventy-ninth street.
said that this is the first time that the
Nobel literary prize has ever been swarded
70 one o. her -cumpatrots and that there
vas great satisfaction throughout Sweden
on account Of It. Mrs. Howard is = per
sonal friend Of Miss Lgeriof, knows her
In her home life and is rejoiced at that
recognition Of her talent
Miss Lagerlof is. OF course. greatly be-
loved throughout all Sweden she said.
Last year her countrymen celebrated her
10Th birthday In q national festival attended
by scientists and statesmsn and members Of
the clergy and the king himself. All were
delighted to do her honor.
Has Won Many Prizes.
DAA AAAeE 1aeEAANA mas A"eaE tANA
prizes for literary work. Two years ago
the University of Upssls gave her the de-
gree Of doctor Of literature. and the laurel
wreath was placed upon her brow in the
cathedral where she stood directly beneath
the tablet Of Linneus. father Of botany.
Then Oh another occasion she won a liter
airy prize OF a large sum Of money from a
magazine.
While Miss Lagerlof has been a sue
cessful writer for many years II is her
recent work, The Adventures Of Nils.
which was adopted as a textbook by the
National Teachers association and ls Gow
In use in the folk schools OF Sweden,
tFat carried her intimately into the homes
OF her cOuntrymen. il was recognized
that she had recreated geography and
natural history and had revealed to the
child heart the wonders Of nature, CON-
bining the aesthetic and the practical in
a way previously undresmed OF. The
story is q fairy tale in which are tucked
away wonderful nuggets Of Information,
and is interesting TO young and old alike.
Miss Lagerlof Is a little woman with
fair hair and expressive blue eyes and q
gentle presence. She gives readings
from her own writings In a rich con-
tralto voice, makes no gestures. but re-
vesls all that she means through the
infection OF her voice. She is most
unassuming ard modest IN manner and
unconscious Of herself. appreclative and
quick TO see merit in others.
Her Personality.
After our first meeting, when speB'
several hours In her society. ! was sud
denly impressed with the fact that sht
Rad not once referred TO herself. She
shrinks from society and spends most OF
her time in her country home miles away
from every one, and there she devots'
herself to her work.
"She was % years old before she begaI
TO write. Her father. who is not now living
was an army officer, and her mother
brother. Christian Wallruth. is a cele
brsted landscape painter. Miss LageTloi
is a graduate of the Teachers college Of
Stockholm and was for a few years q
teacher. She lives along with her mother
this winter in Dalecariia.
Miss Lagerlof, while q thinker and Writel
along spiritual lines, is not allied TO an,
religious sect. She is distinctly nonseC
tartan. but that she must be an apostle o.
the s~o-called new thought Is apparent from
the symbolic quality that creeps into all o
her wriunE Her Christ Legends ar
rich in symbolic reference to the spiritua
side OF life. Some Of her other books ar
Jerusalem The Miracles of the Anti
/ Christ Invisible Links and Costa Beri
inE
she is a su~ffraGist and is a meHbe
Of the Frederick Bremen association.
powerful woman's club for social better
ment and the enfranchisement Of woman
While as a writer she is an idealist and al
optimist ! do not wish to give the idei
that she does not deal with practical sub
jects ia a practical manner. Her boo
Jerusalem for example. was written afte
she had journeyed to the orient to iuvesti
gate the conditions Of the Swedish peas
ants who had emigrSted there and Ner
said TO be treated badly.
: depicts life as it Is, but the sent
ment is always uplifting. Her work hs
revolutioniEed Swedish literature. She Ia
lived ia Italy. Sicily ana the Holy LanC
and the Christ Legends arc the outcom
Of material gathered in Egypt and in IN
library Of C-onstanunople and Of The Vat
can"