Nobel Prize for Literature: the good, the bad and the British - Telegraph Book news Nobel Prize for Literature: the good, the bad and the British As this year's recipient is set to be announced, we look back at some of the award's beloved, obscure and homegrown winners. Ernest Hemingway Photo: GETTY IMAGES The Italian playwright Dario Fo By Marie-Claire Chappet 10:55AM BST 09 Oct 2014 The 107th Nobel Prize for literature, the richest literary prize in the world, is awarded today. Over it's history, the prize has been awarded to works in over 25 different languages.There have been 10 British winners (including one British prime minister) four joint wins, 13 female recipients, one Yiddish winner and two writers who have declined the substantial prize. The award has not been without controversy, with prominent and successful writers often rejected in favour of more obscure choices and selections often tainted by political bias. The Prize has, however, celebrated some of the finest literary output of the last century. The Popular: W.B.

Yeats (1923): The beloved Irish poet was awarded the prize "for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation". Reflecting this, Yeats claimed that he accepted the award "less as an individual than as a representative of Irish literature." Ernest Hemingway (1954): One of the most significant writers of the twentieth-century, Hemingway was awarded his Prize in recognition of an individual work. The Old Man and the Sea (1951) was singled out as an example of his "mastery of the art of narrative." Related Articles 15 Apr 2015 Novelist Ernest Hemmingway Jean Paul Sartre (1964): Sartre was the second writer to decline a Nobel Prize, out of a habit of refusing all official honours. The first was Boris Pasternak in 1958 who initially accepted but then was forced to decline, under pressure from his native Soviet Union. Sartre refused as he felt it was wrong for a writer to turn himself into "an institution" yet was selected for having "exerted a far-reaching influence on our age".

Samuel Beckett (1969): The avant-garde playwright and novelist was honoured for his writing, which "in new forms for the novel and drama - in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation". Playwright Samuel Beckett Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1982): The magic realist novelist, and auhor of the highly acclaimed One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), was honoured for "his novels and short stories, in which the fantastic and the realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent's life and conflicts". Wole Soyinka (1986): was the first African in Africa and in Diaspora to be honoured with a Nobel Prize for literature. The Nigerian writer was chosen for his works which "in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashion the drama of existence". The Obscure: Elvyind Johnson and Harry Martinson (1974): The choice of the joint prize for these Swedish authors was an unpopular one. The Prize has long been criticised for favouring European authors, particularly authors from Sweden, as the award is granted by The Swedish Academy.

The relatively unknown Johnson and Martinson, who were both Nobel Prize judges, controversially beat Graham Greene and Vladimir Nabakov to the award. Dario Fo (1997): Viewed as one of the least worthy winners, Fo was primarily a performance artist who had been censored by the Roman Catholic Church. What made his selection even more unpopular was that he succeeded over other, more established, writers: Salman Rushdie and Arthur Miller. Rushdie's rejection was widely criticised and two academy members resigned over its refusal to support the writer after a fatwa was issued against him in 1989. The selection of Fo was defended by the academy, however, who awarded the prize on the grounds that Fo: "emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden". Italian playwright Dario Fo Elfriede Jelenik (2004): Jelenik herself believed that she should not have received a Nobel Prize. She believed she had only been chosen for "being a woman" and praised her competitors instead.

A member of the Swedish Academy, Knut Ahnlud, shared Jelenik's belief and resigned over her selecton, claiming she had "done irreparable damage" to the prize. Herta Muller (2009): The academy believed that the Romanian-born German novelist was deserving of the award for she "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed". Others were not as convinced and the selection of Muller was heavily criticised for returning the award to its Eurocentric bias. The British: Ruyard Kipling (1907): The first British author to be awarded the prize, Kipling has become something of an institution. The prize was awarded "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration". Kipling remains the youngest Nobel Laureate for Literature, receiving his award at 42. Rudyard Kipling George Bernard Shaw (1925): The Irish-born writer has often been heralded as the most significant British dramatist since Shakespeare.

He was recognised: "for his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty." John Galsworthy (1932): The prize is typically awarded in recognition of a writer's life's work. On nine occasions, however, the prize was given to recognise a single piece. Galsworthy's The Forsythe Saga in 1932 was among these. T.S Eliot (1948): American-born Eliot, acclaimed poet and literary essayist, received the award in recognition of his "outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry." Bertrand Russell (1950): The philosopher and social critic was decorated for his humanitarian focus and his championing of "freedom of thought." Winston Churchill (1953): The only British prime minister to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature, recognised for his historical and biographical description, specifically in his works The Second World War and A History of the English Speaking Peoples.

Winston Churchill William Golding (1983): received the 1983 prize "for his novels which, with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and universality of myth, illuminate the human condition in the world of today." V.S Naipaul (2001): the Trinidadian-British writer is best known for his focus upon the legacy and impact of British colonialism. He was recognised in 2001 for "incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories". Harold Pinter (2005): The acclaimed and beloved playwright and screenwriter was honoured for his plays which force "entry into oppression's closed rooms". Doris Lessing (2007): The oldest recipient of the award, at 88, Lessing was named "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny". She is one of twelve women to win the award, the first was Selma Lagerlof in 1909.

Doris Lessing, the oldest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature Heads of State or Government: Presidents, Chancellors and Prime Ministers awarded a Nobel Prize Lists of Nobel Prizes and Laureates Lists of Nobel Prizes and Laureates 26 Heads of State or Government Awarded a Nobel Prize The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 15 heads of state or government, at the time of the award. Five former and six future heads of state or government have also been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. One prime minister at the time of the award, Winston Churchill, was awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel Peace Prize has frequently caused controversy. One reason is that many Laureates have been contemporary and highly controversial political actors. Nobel Prize for Literature: Why Winston Churchill won - Rediff.com News Rediff.com » News » Nobel Prize for Literature: Why Winston Churchill won Nobel Prize for Literature: Why Winston Churchill won October 10, 2013 15:15 IST Fun facts about Nobel Prize for Literature Next Let's take a look at some lesser known facts related to the distinguished authors who have won the Nobel Prize in literature...

The maximum number of awards -- 26 -- have been won by authors writing in English. French and German authors, with 13 awards each, have been awarded the second highest number of Nobel Prizes. Incidentally, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 1953 in two categories -- peace and literature. He finally won the Nobel Prize for literature for 'his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values'. Click on NEXT for more... Image: Winston Churchill Prev Next Till date, 102 Nobel Prizes have been awarded in literature. But no awards were given for seven years: 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943. Why? Because the Nobel Foundation clearly states, 'If none of the works under consideration is found to be of the importance indicated in the first paragraph, the prize money shall be reserved until the following year.

If, even then, the prize cannot be awarded, the amount shall be added to the Foundation's restricted funds.' Incidentally, Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, exactly a 100 years ago. Click on NEXT for more... Image: Rabindranath Tagore Winston Churchill: A U.K. Statesman with Anglo-American Roots | IIP Digital Winston Churchill: A U.K. Statesman with Anglo-American Roots 01 November 2011 This is the fourth in a series on U.S. memorials that honor the achievements of people from around the world. A bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill stands near the British Embassy in Washington, with one foot resting on British soil and the other foot on U.S. soil. Learn why the statue was positioned this way, and why Churchill liked the idea. Sir Winston Churchill stands vigilant near the British Embassy in Washington, his right hand raised in a “V for victory” salute. Rendered in bronze, the statue of Churchill has one foot resting on embassy property — legally, British soil — and the other foot on U.S. soil. That placement is a reminder that Churchill had a British father and an American mother.

Regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill twice served as Britain’s prime minister. He is the only British prime minister to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1963, Churchill was made an honorary U.S. citizen by President John F. Kennedy. Churchill’s statue in Washington was created by U.S. sculptor William McVey and unveiled in 1966, a year after Churchill’s death. Churchill knew that it was destined to stand on both British and U.S. soil, and this apparently pleased him. “I feel it will rest happily and securely on both feet,” he said. (This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.

Web site: Keywords: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1874 - 1965) - Genealogy Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Birthdate: Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England Death: in 28 Hyde Park Gate, Hyde Park, London, England Cause of death: Added 2013-03-31 03:02:45 -0700 by Private User Collection: NewspaperARCHIVE.com Text: "...to God In remembrance of Winston Spencer Churchill and in thanksgiving for his life and achievements The rector ended the service wit... Date: Australian Newspapers Text: "...by the Act recently passed. Mr. Churchill Married. Precautions at the Wedding. LONDON. September 13. The marriage of tho Bight lion. ... Publication: Sep 14 1908 - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Page: Australian Newspapers Text: ... Court of the United State* against the decision of the Circuit WINSTON CHURCHILL MARRIED. LONDON, September 12. The marriage of the Righ...

Publication: Sep 19 1908 - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Page: Nov 30 1874 - Blenheim Woodstock Oxfordshire Death: Jan 24 1965 - Hyde Park Gate London Parents: Henry Randolph Spencer-churchill, Jennie Lady Randolph Churchill Spencer-churchill (born Jerome) Wife: Nov 30 1874 - Blenheim Palace, Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England Death: Jan 24 1965 - Hyde Park Gate, Kensington, London, England Parents: Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill, Jeanette "Jennie" Jerome Wife: Clementine Ogilvy Hozier Children: ...urchill, Sarah Spencer Churchill, Mary Spencer Soames (born Churchill), Diana Spencer Churchill, Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill Brother: The Jewish Chronicle Text: ... MEMORIAL HOME As a tokeri of respect for the fate RT. HON. SIR WINSTON SPENCER-CHURCHILL, K.G., O.M., CH., T.D., the Hammcrson Dinner on... Date: Text: ... of the greatEnglishman and illustrious world statesman, Sir Win-ston Spencer-Churchill ...

wouldhave been present at the funeral service... Date: stepfather About Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, Hon. RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (that is, for most of the Second World War) and again from 1951 to 1955. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was also the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.

==================================================================== Wikipedia links: Winston Churchill - Biographical Winston Churchill The Nobel Prize in Literature 1953 Winston Churchill Share this: Winston Churchill - Biographical The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and his American wife Jennie Jerome, was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. After a brief but eventful career in the army, he became a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1900. He held many high posts in Liberal and Conservative governments during the first three decades of the century. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty - a post which he had earlier held from 1911 to 1915. In May, 1940, he became Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and remained in office until 1945. He took over the premiership again in the Conservative victory of 1951 and resigned in 1955. However, he remained a Member of Parliament until the general election of 1964, when he did not seek re-election.

Queen Elizabeth II conferred on Churchill the dignity of Knighthood and invested him with the insignia of the Order of the Garter in 1953. Among the other countless honours and decorations he received, special mention should be made of the honorary citizenship of the United States which President Kennedy conferred on him in 1963. Churchill's literary career began with campaign reports: The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899), an account of the campaign in the Sudan and the Battle of Omdurman. In 1900, he published his only novel, Savrola, and, six years later, his first major work, the biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill. His other famous biography, the life of his great ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, was published in four volumes between 1933 and 1938. Churchill's history of the First World War appeared in four volumes under the title of The World Crisis (1923-29); his memoirs of the Second World War ran to six volumes (1948-1953/54).

After his retirement from office, Churchill wrote a History of the English-speaking Peoples (4 vols., 1956-58). His magnificent oratory survives in a dozen volumes of speeches, among them The Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The Dawn of Liberation (1945), and Victory (1946). Churchill, a gifted amateur painter, wrote Painting as a Pastime (1948). An autobiographical account of his youth, My Early Life, appeared in 1930. From Nobel Lectures , Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969 This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel . It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures . To cite this document, always state the source as shown above. Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965.

Defining English Literature: British Nobel Prize Winners Defining English Literature: British Nobel Prize Winners Thomas Storey For centuries, English literature has occupied a disproportionately large place on the global stage, with iconic figures such as William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens endowing the English literary tradition with a lustre that it still retains. The British winners of the Nobel Prize for literature embody this, although they may offer surprises even for those well versed in the literary output of the United Kingdom . The diverse list of winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature from the United Kingdom reveal the way in which the contours of English literature have shifted over the course of the 20th century and how it has become more inclusive and more varied. The list includes several writers who were born elsewhere but came to call England their home, and came to have a profound impact on English literature, as well as writers working in the fields of history, philosophy and drama along with poetry and fiction. What these writers have in common is that they all put forward their own definition of English literature, and by doing so demarcated their own idea of England.

Rudyard Kipling (1864-1936) Kipling, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, was the first winner of the prize from the British Isles and was also the first English language writer to win. For many people, Kipling has become emblematic of a type of late-Victorian Englishness: something which is most apparent in his all-consuming zeal for the British Empire. Indeed Kipling was born in Bombay, then a major centre of the British Raj, and spent much of his life writing about the Empire. Works such as Mandalay (1890), Gunga Din (1890), The White Man’s Burden (1899) and If (1910) focused on Imperial exploits and the heroism of British forces in facing down indigenous foes. In subsequent decades he was dismissed as a propagandist for British Imperialism who cared little for the rights of the various peoples that populated the Empire, although the literary value of Kipling’s work has rarely been questioned. He is perhaps most fondly remembered for his children’s stories, such as The Jungle Book , which remains widely read.

John Galsworthy (1897-1933) The next winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature from the United Kingdom was John Galsworthy, who won in 1932, a year before his death. In his time he was a highly successful novelist and playwright whose novel The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter , were immensely popular. This series of novels depicted the convoluted lives of an upper class British family who, despite their wealth, are beset by problems. The family is considered nouveaux riche, having come from a farming background, and the novels are partly an acutely observed satire of the complexities of the British class system. Whilst Galsworthy was immensely popular and was recognised for his literary achievements by the Nobel committee, he was also a divisive figure. The younger generation of modernist writers who came to prominence in the early 20th century dismissed him as an archaic relic of the Victorian era. T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) An American who spent most of his adult life in Britain and who eventually became a naturalised British citizen, T.S.

Eliot is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in 20th century literature. Eliot was awarded the prize in 1948, by which time he had become a leading figure in the United Kingdom’s literary establishment and an icon for successive generations of young poets. Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri, but immigrated to Europe in his early 20s, living first in Paris and then in London, where he met Ezra Pound. Together they would revolutionise 20th century literature, rejecting the staid realism of their predecessors in favour of a modernist stream-of-consciousness style that emphasised the ruptures of individual perspective. Eliot’s most famous works of his early period were The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock , a satire of modern ennui, and The Waste Land , an apocalyptic epic in which Eliot channelled the disillusionment of his generation and the horror of World War One. Eliot’s works, along with other modernist classics such as James Joyce’s Ulysses and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway , changed the trajectory of English literature irrevocably.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) Bertrand Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950 for his writings in philosophy, rather than fiction. He was one of most influential philosophers of the early 20th century and through his work he developed a new method of philosophical inquiry which he called ‘analytic philosophy’. This placed more of an emphasis on rigorous argument and clarity, formal logic and linguistic analysis. Russell’s most famous philosophical works are On Denoting, which he released in 1905,and Principia Mathematica , written with A.N. Whitehead and published from 1910 to 1913. Alongside his philosophical career, Russell was involved in political and social activism and campaigned for pacifism and, in his later life, nuclear disarmament. He released A History of Western Philosophy in 1945, a hugely influential compendium of the course of Western philosophy, which was cited when he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) A towering figure in British history, the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is world-renowned for his wartime leadership of the United Kingdom.

Alongside his political career Churchill was an avid historian and a prolific writer. Despite his official responsibilities as Prime Minister, he published several highly acclaimed works during his lifetime. These include Marlborough: His Life and Times , a biography of Churchill’s ancestor the Duke of Marlborough, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples , a four volume history of Britain from Roman times to the early 20th century, and The Second World War , an insider’s account of the British war effort. The latter work was cited when he won the Nobel Prize, although many have suggested that it is compromised by Churchill’s central role in the action. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953 for, in the words of the Nobel Committee, ‘his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values’. William Golding (1911-1993) Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983, at which time he was considered one of the foremost English writers of the 20th century.

He came to prominence in the early 1950s with the publication of his debut novel Lord of the Flies , a harrowing allegorical tale of shipwrecked children that was, at the time, shocking in its bleak depiction of human bestiality. This novel introduced Golding’s stylistic and thematic obsessions: his tendency to use allegory and his relentless pessimism about the nature of civilisation, which would thread its way throughout his work. Lord of the Flies was not a success initially, but was eventually acclaimed as one of the finest works of the 20th century and a perspicacious insight into post war society. Golding would follow it with several acclaimed works including The Inheritors (1955), The Spire (1964) and Rites of Passage (1980), which won the Man Booker Prize. Golding remains one of the most popular English authors, particularly since Lord of the Flies has become a mainstay of secondary school curricula in the UK and US.

Harold Pinter (1930-2008) A dramatist who would come to dominate the world of English theatre over the latter half of the 20th century, Pinter has been credited with reviving British drama. His works were hailed for their psychological insight and their unsettling qualities, and the Nobel Prize committee commented upon awarding him the prize for literature in 2005, that ‘in his plays [he] uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms’. Pinter’s works also revealed a deep political commitment which he also displayed in other areas of his life; most notably by refusing to do his National Service in the British military in the 1950s, but also by relentless political activism in his later years. He campaigned vigorously for free speech, an end to international conflict and was a fierce critic of the second Iraq war. Some of Pinter’s most prominent works include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978).

Doris Lessing (1919-2013) Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007 and at 88 was the oldest person to ever receive the prize. Although born in Iran and raised in Zimbabwe, which at the time was the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, she fled Africa to pursue a writing career, leaving behind her two small children. She moved to London, and in 1950 published her first novel, The Grass is Singing . Drawing from her childhood in Africa, this novel was considered a shocking sensation upon its release because of its frank depiction of race relations in the British colony. Its notoriety, however, would be eclipsed by Lessing’s third novel The Golden Notebook , which she released in 1962. This was a thematic breakthrough for Lessing and its depiction of female sexuality and the woman’s movement was profoundly radical for its time. Lessing would release several other highly acclaimed works throughout her career, including Memoirs of a Survivor (1974), The Good Terrorist (1985) and The Sweetest Dream (2001).

British Monarchs And Their Prime Ministers - British Monarchy Family History British Monarchy Family History British Monarchs And Their Prime Ministers 10, DOWNING STREET The five major political parties of the United Kingdom are the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, the Labour Party, the Green Party and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). The Liberal Democrats - who were originally founded in 1678 under the name of the Whig Party. During their history they have also been known as the Peelite Party, the Radicals and the Liberal Party. They have a classic liberalism and social liberalism ideology. The Conservative Party - also known as the Tories, which is a centre right party with a conservatism and strong British unity ideology, whose movement was founded in 1834. The Labour Party - which is a centre left party with a socialist ideology, whose movement was founded in 1900. The Green Party - which is a centre left party with a strong environmentalist and eco-socialism ideology, which was founded in 1990. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) - which is a far right party with an anti-federalist and right wing populism ideology, whose movement was founded in 1993.

Major regional nationalist parties around the United Kingdom include; The Ulster Unionist Party - which was formed in 1905, and The Democratic Ulster Unionist Party, formed in 1971, both of which are the two main political parties within Northern Ireland. Plaid Cymru - which was formed in 1925 and is a social democratic party striving for nationalism and independence in Wales. The Scottish Nationalist Party - which was formed in 1934, which is a social democratic party striving for nationalism and independence in Scotland. U.K STAMPS ISSUED ON THE 14th OF OCTOBER 2014 DEPICTING EIGHT FORMER PRIME MINISTERS The position of British Prime Minister was never created, but evolved over a number of years. Because of this modern historians have given the title of first British Prime Minister to that of Sir Robert Walpole, who ran King George I's government from 1721 - 1742, making his twenty one year tenure the longest of any British prime minister.

As Great Britain is a monarchy, both the government and monarchy were originally run as a single entity, with the highest ministerial position, that of the Lord of the Treasurer. After every British election, the leader of the winning party is invited to form a government by the serving monarch. As a serving prime minister, the man or woman who holds this title is the only person in the United Kingdom who is allowed to sit in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The prime minister is a commoner, therefore he or she is eligible to sit in the House of Commons, but the Lord of the Treasurer, which is one of the automatic titles of the prime minister, is a lord, thus enabling him or her to sit in the House of Lords. Even the monarch is denied this privilege, as two of the monarch's titles are Lord of Man and Lord High Admiral of the British Navy, thus only enabling him or her entry into the House of Lords.

At the end of a prime minister's tenure, it is customary for the monarch to award the outgoing prime minister with the Most Noble Order of the Garter, or in the case of a Scots born prime minister the Most Ancient & Noble Order of the Thistle, although Scottish born former prime ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair are not members of the order due to Brown declining the honour and Blair being disinherited due to public opinion over the Iraq war. Every outgoing prime minister is granted a life peerage, thus allowing them automatic elevation into the House of Lords. Ten Downing Street was built between 1682 - 1684 by property investor Sir George Downing. The house was inhabited by both royals and politicians over the years, until it became the property of the crown in 1733. King George II offered the house as a personal gift to Sir Robert Walpole, for services rendered to the crown, but Walpole declined the gift, asking instead if the building could be used as the official residence of the Lord of the Treasurer. The King agreed and the house became the official residence of the Lord of the Treasurer in September 1735 and the official office of the prime minister in 1921.

Therefore Ten Downing Street is the official residence of the Lord of the Treasurer not the official residence of the prime minister. Since modern day prime ministers automatically become the Lord of the Treasurer upon becoming prime minister he or she is therefore allowed to reside in 10 Downing Street, but their official residence is actually Chequers Court, or more popularly known simply as Chequers, a large, sixteenth century manor house and country estate situated in Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire, located about forty miles away from Downing Street. Six British prime ministers have died in office, Spencer Compton, Henry Pelham, Charles Watson - Wentworth, William Pitt the younger, George Canning and Henry Temple. Eleven British prime ministers have resigned from office, they are; Fredrick Robinson, William Lamb, Sir Robert Peel, George Hamilton, William Gladstone, Archibald Primrose, Andrew Bonar - Law, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. One British prime minister was assassinated, Spencer Perceval, who died at the hands of merchant John Bellingham, on the 11th of May 1812, in the foyer of the Houses of Parliament.

One British prime minister has had his government collapse, that was Edward Smith - Stanley in 1852. Stanley also holds the record for being the Conservative party's longest serving party leader, at twenty two years. The longest serving Labour party leader was Prime Minister Tony Blair, at sixteen years. William Pitt the younger was the youngest prime minister to ever hold office at the age of just twenty four. Margaret Thatcher was the only female British prime minister. She was also the longest serving Prime Minister of the twentieth century at eleven years. Winston Churchill was the only British prime minister to receive a Nobel Prize, when he won the prize for literature in 1953. Stanley Baldwin is the only British prime minister to serve under three different monarchs - George V, Edward VIII and George VI - with his two year tenure between June 1935 and May 1937. The longest serving British prime minister was the first one, Sir Robert Walpole, who served for over twenty one years. The shortest term for a British prime minister was served by George Canning, from April - August of 1827, who died just one hundred and nineteen days into his tenure.

The two prime ministers Henry Asquith and David Lloyd - George held office during the first World War. The prime minister Winston Churchill held office during the second World War. Seventy six terms of prime ministerial office have been served by fifty two men and two woman. PRIME MINISTERS OF GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND SEAL OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM Shown below is a list of British Prime Ministers from 1721 to present day, followed by a list of longest serving prime ministers, a list of shortest serving prime ministers, a list of the youngest prime ministers and a list of the oldest prime ministers. The following list Includes name, date of tenure and political affiliation of each prime minister. KING GEORGE I Sir Robert Walpole - 1721 - 1742 - Whig. KING GEORGE II Spencer Compton - 1742 - 1743 - Whig - (Died in office). Henry Pelham - 1743 - 1754 - Whig - (Died in office).

Thomas Pelham - Holles - 1754 - 1756 - Whig William Cavendish - 1756 - 1757 - Whig. Thomas Pelham - Holles - 1757 - 1762 - Whig KING GEORGE III John Stuart - 1762 - 1763 - Tory. George Grenville - 1763 - 1765 - Whig. Charles Watson - Wentworth - 1765 - 1766 - Whig - (Died in office). William Pitt, the Elder - 17666 - 1768 - Whig. Augustus Fitzroy - 1768 - 1770 - Whig. Fredrick North - 1770 - 1782 - Tory. Charles Watson - Wentworth - 1782 - Whig - (Died in office). William Petty - Fitzmaurice - 1882 - 1883 - Whig. William Cavendish - Bentinck - 1783 - Tory.

William Pitt, the younger - 1783 - 1801 - Tory. (Britain's youngest P.M at 24). Henry Addington - 1801 - 1804 - Tory. William Pitt, the younger - 1804 - 1806 - Tory - (Died in office). William Wyndham Grenville - 1806 - 1807 - Whig. William Cavendish - Bentinck - 1807 - 1809 - Tory. Spencer Perceval - 1809 - 1812 - Tory - (The only British Prime Minister to be assassinated). Robert Banks Jenkinson - 1812 - 1827 - Tory. KING GEORGE IV George Canning - 1827 - Tory - (Died in office). Fredrick John Robinson - 1827 - 1828 - Tory. Arthur Wellesley - 1828 - 1830 - Tory. KING WILLIAM IV Charles Grey - 1830 - 1834 - Whig.

William Lamb - 1834 - Whig - (Resigned). Arthur Wellesley - 1834 - Tory. Sir Robert Peel - 1834 - 1835 - Conservative - (Resigned). William Lamb - 1835 - 1841. Sir Robert Peel - 1841 - 1846 - Conservative. Lord John Russel - 1846 - 1852 - Whig. Edward Smith - Stanley - 1852 - (Government collapsed). George Hamilton - Gordon - 1852 - Peelite - (Resigned). Henry John Temple - 1855 - 1858 - Whig. Edward Smith - Stanley - 1858 - 1859 - Conservative - (Longest serving leader of the Conservative party) Henry John Temple - 1859 - 1865 - Liberal - (Died in office). John Russel - 1865 - 1866 - Liberal. Edward Smith - Stanley - Conservative - 1866 - 1868 - Conservative.

Benjamin Disraeli - 1868 - Conservative - (Britain's only Jewish P.M). As Britain has a state religion it is preferable if the Prime Minister is of the Anglican faith, although it is not obligatory. William Ewart Gladstone - 1868 - 1874 - Liberal. Benjamin Disraeli - 1874 - 1880 - Conservative. William Ewart Gladstone - 1880 - 1885 - Liberal. Robert Gascoyne Cecil - 1885 - 1886 - Conservative. William Ewart Gladstone - 1886 - Liberal. Robert Gascoyne Cecil - 1886 - 1892 - Conservative. William Ewart Gladstone - 1892 - 1894 - Liberal - (Resigned). Archibald Primrose - 1894 - 1895 - Liberal - (Resigned). Robert Gascoyne Cecil - 1895 - 1902 - Conservative.

THE ROYAL HOUSE OF SAXE COBURG GOTHA KING EDWARD VII Sir Arthur Balfour - 1902 - 1905 - Conservative Sir Henry Campbell - Bannerman - 1905 - 1908 - Liberal. Herbert Henry Asquith - 1908 - 1916 - Liberal. THE ROYAL HOUSE OF WINDSOR KING GEORGE V David Lloyd George - 1916 - 1922 - Liberal. Andrew Bonar - Law - 1922 - 1923 - Conservative - (Resigned). Stanley Baldwin - 1923 - 1924 - Conservative - (Resigned). Ramsey MacDonald - 1924 - He had headed a small majority Labour government and Hung Parliament with the Liberals. Stanley Baldwin - 1924 - 1929 - Conservative. Ramsey MacDonald - 1929 - 1935 - Labour. Stanley Baldwin - 1935 - 1937 - Conservative.

KING GEORGE VI Neville Chamberlain - 1937 - 1940 - Conservative - (Resigned). Winston Churchill - 1940 - 1945 - Conservative Clement Attlee - 1945 - 1951 - Labour. Winston Churchill - 1951 - 1955 - Conservative. QUEEN ELISABETH II Winston Churchill - 1951 - 1955 - Conservative. Sir Anthony Eden - 1955 - 1957 - Conservative Harold MacMillan - 1957 - 1963 - Labour. Sir Alec Douglas - Home - 1963 - 1964 - Conservative. Harold Wilson - 1964 - 1970 - Labour. Edward Heath - 1970 - 1974 - Conservative. Harold Wilson - 1974 - 1976 - Labour. James Callaghan - 1976 - 1979. - Labour. Margaret Thatcher - 1979 - 1990 - Conservative.

(Resigned) John Major - 1990 - 1997 - Conservative. Tony Blair - 1997 - 2007 - Labour - (Resigned) (He had been the Longest serving leader of the Labour Party). Gordon Brown - 2007 - 2010 - Labour. David Cameron - 2010 - 2015 - He had headed a small Conservative majority and hung parliament with the Liberal Democrats headed by Nick Clegg. David Cameron - May 2015 - July 2016 - Conservative. (Resigned) Theresa May - July 2016 - Incumbent - Conservative.

Harold Pinter - Biography - IMDb Harold Pinter Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (17) | Personal Quotes (6) Overview (2) 24 December 2008 , London, England, UK (liver cancer) Mini Bio (1) Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate for Literature, was born October 10, 1930, in London's working-class Hackney district to Hyman and Frances Pinter, Eastern European Jews who had immigrated to the United Kingdom from Portugal. Hyman (known as "Jack") was a tailor specializing in women's clothing and Frances was a homemaker. The Pinters, whose families hailed from Odessa and Poland in the Russian Empire, were part of a wave of Jewish emigration to the UK at the turn of the last century. It was a community that revered learning and culture. The Pinter family was close, and young Harold was traumatized when, at the outbreak of World War II, he was evacuated from London to Cornwall with other London children for a year to avoid becoming casualties of German aerial bombing.

Pinter has said that his encounter with anti-Semitism while growing up was the fuse that ignited the organic process leading him to becoming a playwright. As the Nobel Prize citation attests, Pinter developed into the greatest English dramatist of the post-World War II era. The young Pinter studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1950 he published several poems and began working as a professional actor. Under the stage name David Baron, he toured the Republic of Ireland with Anew McMaster 's Shakespearean repertory company in 1951-52. Significantly for Pinter's future, 1951 not only marked the debut of his career as a professional actor but also marked the first performance of future Nobel Literature Laureate Samuel Beckett 's absurdist masterpiece "Waiting for Godot." He next appeared with Sir Donald Wolfit 's theatrical company at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, for the 1953- 54 season before becoming a player with various provincial repertory companies, including the Birmingham Rep, until he gave himself over full-time to playwriting in 1959.

Two significant events that would change Great Britain forever occurred during his apprenticeship in provincial rep: (1) the Suez Crisis of 1955 that shattered the UK's pretensions to empire in a post-colonial world and doomed the imperial generations represented by Prime Minister Anthony Eden and his mentor Winston Churchill , and (2) the 1956 premiere of John Osborne 's play "Look Back in Anger." The shattering of the United Kingdom's complacency over imperialism meant that many successful people of Pinter's generation, who normally would have become Tories upon achieving some modicum of success, were disillusioned and drifted towards Labour and the left. No longer would a working- class person, if he so chose, have to be ashamed or stymied if \eschewing becoming middle-class or bourgeois. Osborne's play was the seminal work of the "kitchen-sink" school of drama that would dominate English theater for a decade, in which working-class life and struggles were dramatized. The hegemony of this school of theater was such that for the first time, a working-class or provincial accent became something treasured, something to be proud of, as the former world was set firmly upon its head.

Even the great Laurence Olivier turned his back on the commercial theater to assay Osbourne's Archie Rice, a down-at-the-heels music hall performer, in "The Entertainer" (1957). The kitchen-sink drama was a movement that Pinter would not be a part of, though it did open the doors for working-class writers who, unlike the working class-born Noël Coward , had no interest in becoming bourgeois. The other major element in the cultural milieu that forged Pinter was the Cold War, the absurdity of facing doomsday everyday under the threat of The Bomb (the USSR had acquired the means to produce a bomb through its atomic spy ring and exploded its first A-bomb in 1949, thus ending the US monopoly on nuclear weapons and making the Korean war, the suppression of an East Berlin uprising and the squashing of the Hungarian Revolution practical, if not possible). The Cold War gave legitimacy to the rise of the police state, not in totalitarian countries but in the use of police-state tactics in the western industrial democracies.

To quote American poet' Charles Bukowski', this was an era marked by "War All The Time," not between two superpower behemoths but in everyday human relations, poisoned as they were by the Cold War climate of absurdity, paranoia and imminent holocaust. In 1953 the accused "atomic spies" Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in the United States when President Dwight D. Eisenhower , the man who had overseen the liberation of Europe as Supreme Allied Commander fighting the Nazi totalitarian menace, had refused clemency for even Ethel, the mother of two small boys. It was a domestic drama -- a woman's loyalty to her husband, her loss of not only her life but the Issac-like evocative sacrifice of any normal life for her two children when Eisenhower-Jehovah refused to stay the executioner's hand -- that had combined with the felicities of affairs of state and world power politics.

The question of whether they were guilty or innocent--not proven beyond a doubt in 1951, when they had been convicted in a trial that was compared by many to the Stalinist show-trials that had occurred in the Soviet Union and still occurred in the satellite countries of the Warsaw Pact after World War II - gave rise to an overwhelming fundamental question: What is real? Reality, as Hannah Arendt had put it in "The Human Condition," is socially defined; that is a given. But how about when that reality no longer makes sense, when the individual cannot partake of the consensus demanded of him in the 1950s, whether conservative, middle-class, haute bourgeoisie or radical left as dictated by some flaming Red party boss - a person struggling with his own life? How does he answer the question: What is real? It is a question that Pinter took upon himself to answer, and answered by showing us there is no answer. In this quest, a genius arrived on the world stage in the form of a player who decided to craft his own words, for himself and his post-Holocaust, pre-Holocaust audience.

When life stops making sense, as it did in the 1940s when the global war against fascism left 50 million dead and the modern industrial state was tasked with the exigencies of mass- murder, and as it did in the 1950s when, under the aegis of combating another totalitarian system a domestic fascism in kind if not degree arose in the Anglo-Saxon countries with their great gravital pull towards conformity within a shell of consumerism, it still behooves a human being to try to understand the human condition. In 1957 Bristol University staged Pinter's first play "The Room." He had told a friend who worked in Bristol University's drama department an idea he had for a play. The friend was so enamored of the idea that he commissioned the work, with the proviso that a script be ready within a week. Though he didn't believe he could meet his friend's demands, Pinter wrote the one-act play in four days.

"The Room" had all the hallmarks of what would become known as "Pinteresque," in that it had a mundane situation that gradually filled with menace and mystery through the author's deliberate omission of an explanation or motivation for the action on stage. It is ironic perhaps that an actor would rid his script of motivation as "motivation" is the Holy Grail of inwardly-directed actors such as those tutored in "The Method" in America, but it was emblematic of the times that stated motivations frequently masked other, starker, more id-like drives in people or in nation-states that were beyond human comprehension in terms of being rational. Modern society had become irrational, and motivations post-Freud could be understood as a manifestation of Thanatos, the Death Instinct. Imminent violence and power plays would become other leitmotifs of Pinter's oeuvre. Pinter wrote a second one-act play in 1957, "The Dumb Waiter," an absurdist drama concerning two hit men employed by a secret organization to kill an unknown victim.

It was with this play that Pinter added an element of black comedy, mostly through his brilliant use of dialog, which not only elucidated the killers' growing anxiety but underscored the very absurdity of their situation. The play would not be performed until 1960, after the staging of his first two full-length plays, one a flop, and one a hit. His first full-length play, "The Birthday Party," debuted at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge in 1958. In the play the apathetic Stanley, the denizen of a dilapidated boarding house, is visited by two men. The audience never learns their motivation, but knows that Stanley is terrified of them. They organize a birthday party for Stanley, who insists that it is not his birthday. Pinter is following in the footsteps of the great absurdist Samuel Beckett in that he steadfastly refuses to give clear motivations to his characters, or rational explanations for the sake of his audience (Pinter and Beckett became friends). The play, now considered a masterpiece, flopped on its initial London run after being savaged by critics.

It was revived after Pinter's second full-length play, 1960's "The Caretaker," established him as a major force in the English-language theater. His early plays were rooted in the absurdism that became the major theatrical paradigm on the European stage in the third quarter of the 20th century, after the horrors of the war and the Holocaust. The early plays that made his reputation such as "The Homecoming" (1964) and his middle-period work such as "No Man's Land" (1976) have been called "comedies of menace." Typically, they use what at first seems like an innocent situation and develop it into an absurd and threatening environment through actions that usually are inexplicable to the audience and sometimes even to the other characters in the play. A Pinter drama is dark and claustrophobic. His language is full of menacing pauses. The lives of Pinter's characters usually are revealed to be stunted by guilt and horror.

The duality and absurdity of Pinter's theatrical world-view gave rise to the adjective "Pinteresque," which took its place next to "Kafkaesque," a product of the horrors of the first quarter of the century (Pinter would write the screenplay for an adaption of Franz Kafka 's "The Trial".) Beginning in the 1960s, Pinter further enhanced his reputation as a writer with his screenplays, particular his work with Joseph Losey in The Servant (1963) and Accident (1967) (Losey planned an adaptation of Marcel Proust 's "Le Temps Retrouve" and commissioned Pinter to write the screenplay. The film was never made by Losey, but Pinter's screenplay was subsequently published to great acclaim). His later screenplays, including his last produced work with Losey, The Go-Between (1971), are, ironically, noted for their clarity.

He was twice nominated for the Academy Award as a screenwriter, for his adaptation of John Fowles ' labyrinthine novel into the film The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) and for Betrayal (1983), his adaptation of his own play. Such was the respect that Pinter was held that Elia Kazan , one of the great film directors, complained in his autobiography "A Life" (1988) that The Last Tycoon (1976) producer Sam Spiegel had such reverence for Pinter that he would not let Kazan change his script. After the great plays of his early and mid-period, Pinter became more overtly political. His later plays, which generally are shorter than the plays from the period in which he made his reputation, typically address political subjects and often are allegories on oppression. In the late 1970s Pinter became more outspoken on political issues and is decidedly of the left. He is passionately committed to human rights and is not shy about bringing examples of oppression from client states sponsored by the Anglo-Saxon democracies to the public's attention.

In 2002 Pinter experienced what he described as a "personal nightmare" when he had to undergo chemotherapy to treat a case of cancer of the esophagus. The ordeal, which has been ongoing for three years, triggered a personal metamorphosis in the man. "I've been through the valley of the shadow of death," Pinter explained about his quickening. "While in many respects I have certain characteristics that I had, I'm also a very changed man." In early 2005 Pinter declared in a radio interview that he was retiring as a dramatist in favor of writing poetry: "I think I've stopped writing plays now, but I haven't stopped writing poems. I've written 29 plays. Isn't that enough?" Pinter has become an outspoken critic of war. He was a bitter critic of the US-led intervention against Slobodan Milosevic 's Serbia during President Bill Clinton 's administration and an even harsher critic of the US-led war in Iraq. The fiercely anti- war Pinter has accused President George W. Bush of being a "mass-murderer" and has called British Prime Minister Tony Blair a "deluded idiot" for supporting US foreign policy.

Pinter claimed immediately after the 9/11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon that they were a requited revenge for the destruction wrought on Afghanistan and Iraq by US imperialism and its anti-Taliban policies and sanctions on Iraq. He has publicly denounced the retaliatory U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the unprovoked 2003 invasion of Iraq. Pinter likens the Bush administration and Bush's America to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, claiming the US is bent on world hegemony. Controversially, he has declared that the only difference between Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union is that the US is more hypocritical and has better public relations. One cannot fault Pinter, in the political ring, for being inconsistent or for jumping on a bandwagon. The man, as well as the artist, is a person that sticks to his convictions. The award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Pinter just after he celebrated his 75th birthday was completely unexpected by pundits handicapping the award.

Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk and Syrian poet Adonis were considered the front-runners, as European writers recently had dominated the award (Pinter's Nobel Prize makes it nine out of ten times in the past ten years that a European writer has won, and the second time in the past five years an English writer has banged the gong), and it was felt the Academy would recognize a writer from another continent, particularly one from Asia Minor. Thus, the award can be seen as a not-so-veiled criticism of the United States in general and President George W. Bush in particular by the Swedish Academy. Because of Pinter's renouncing of the form of which he was a master and his anointment of himself as a poet, in light of his volume of poetry, "War" (2003) that denounces the Iraq War frequently in vulgar, raw and unrythmic poetry that poses no threat to William Butler Yeats or W.H. Auden or Robert Frost or Stevens, one must consider that the Swedish Academy was giving the world's highest prize for literature at least in part to a poet whose latest work was fiercely anti-American and anti-imperialist.

Despite being highly controversial, Pinter -- who was appointed a Commander of the British Empire in 1966 (one step down from a knighthood, an honor he subsequently turned down) -- was named a Companion of Honour in 2002, an honor that does not carry a title. In addition to writing poetry, acting and directing in the theater, Pinter serves as the chairman of the Gaieties Cricket Club, an affiliate of he Club Cricket Conference. He also is active in the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, an organization that supports Fidel Castro , who remains the #1 bugaboo of the United States after Islamic terrorists, just slightly ahead of fellow hemispheric boogeyman Hugo Chávez , a recent arriviste on the world stage. He also is a member of the International Committee to Defend Slobodan Milosevic, an organization that appeals for the freedom of Slobodan Milosevic on the grounds that NATO's war against Milosevic's Yugoslavia was unjustified under international law. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C.

Hopwood Spouse (2) ( 14 September 1956 - 1980) (divorced) Trivia (17) He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1966 and a Companion of Honour in the 2002 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Literature and Drama. Celebrated by the Manitoba Theatre Centre in a festival named Pinter Fest (January 2003). Several of his works were performed, such as, "Night School" and "The Hot House". He allegedly declined a British Knighthood in 1996. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1996 (1995 season) for the Special Award for his lifetime achievement to the theatre. In the early 1960s, he had an extra-marital affair with broadcaster Joan Bakewell . Later, Pinter went on to write what became the movie Betrayal (1983), which told the story of their affair.

Won Broadway's 1967 Tony Award as author of Best Play winner "The Homecoming." He has also received three other Tony nominations: twice as author of a Best Play nominee, in 1962 for "The Caretaker" and in 1972 for "Old Times," and once as Best Director (Dramatic), in 1969 for "The Man in the Glass Booth." Supported a motion to impeach British Prime Minister Tony Blair after the Iraq war. Underwent radiation treatment for cancer of the esophagus in 2002. Awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2005. Has a father-son relationship with producer Sam Spiegel , according to Spiegel biographer Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni. Spiegel was quite taken with Pinter's genius, so much so it hurt the film adaptation of The Last Tycoon (1976), wrote "Tycoon" director Elia Kazan in his own autobiography, as Spiegel treated the screenplay as sacrosanct and wouldn't let Kazan change it to create more dramatic tension.

Ironically, when Spiegel had first seen a screenplay written by Pinter in the 1960s ( The Servant (1963), he had been appalled by its lack of professionalism. Father was a tailor.

Question: Who was the only British Prime Minister to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature?
Answer: Winston Churchill