He is a Nobel Prize-winning writer. Russian writers - Nobel Prize laureates

First laureate. Ivan Alekseevich Bunin(22.10.1870 - 08.11.1953). The prize was awarded in 1933.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, a Russian writer and poet, was born on his parents' estate near Voronezh, in central Russia. Until the age of 11, the boy was raised at home, and in 1881 he entered the Yeletsk district gymnasium, but four years later, due to the family’s financial difficulties, he returned home, where he continued his education under the guidance of his older brother Julius. From early childhood, Ivan Alekseevich read Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontov with enthusiasm, and at the age of 17 he began writing poetry.

In 1889 he went to work as a proofreader for the local newspaper Orlovsky Vestnik. The first volume of poems by I.A. Bunin was published in 1891 as an appendix to one of the literary magazines. His first poems were filled with images of nature, which is characteristic of all the writer’s poetic work. At the same time, he began to write stories that appeared in various literary magazines, and entered into correspondence with A.P. Chekhov.

In the early 90s. XIX century Bunin is influenced by the philosophical ideas of Leo Tolstoy, such as closeness to nature, manual labor and non-resistance to evil through violence. Since 1895 he lives in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Literary recognition came to the writer after the publication of such stories as “On the Farm”, “News from the Motherland” and “At the End of the World”, dedicated to the famine of 1891, the cholera epidemic of 1892, the resettlement of peasants to Siberia, as well as impoverishment and the decline of the small landed nobility. Ivan Alekseevich called his first collection of stories “At the End of the World” (1897).

In 1898, he published the poetry collection “Under the Open Air,” as well as a translation of Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha,” which received very high praise and was awarded the Pushkin Prize of the first degree.

In the first years of the 20th century. is actively involved in translating English and French poets into Russian. He translated Tennyson's poems "Lady Godiva" and Byron's "Manfred", as well as the works of Alfred de Musset and François Coppet. From 1900 to 1909 Many of the writer’s famous stories are published - “Antonov Apples”, “Pines”.

At the beginning of the 20th century. writes his best books, for example the prose poem “Village” (1910), the story “Sukhodol” (1912). In a prose collection published in 1917, Bunin includes his most famous story, “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” a meaningful parable about the death of an American millionaire in Capri.

Fearing the consequences of the October Revolution, he came to France in 1920. Of the works created in the 20s, the most memorable are the story “Mitya’s Love” (1925), the stories “Rose of Jericho” (1924) and “Sunstroke” (1927). The autobiographical story “The Life of Arsenyev” (1933) also received very high criticism from critics.

I.A. Bunin was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1933 “for the rigorous skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose.” Following the wishes of his many readers, Bunin prepared an 11-volume collection of works, which was published by the Berlin publishing house Petropolis from 1934 to 1936. Most of all I.A. Bunin is known as a prose writer, although some critics believe that he managed to achieve more in poetry.

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak(10.02.1890-30.05.1960). The prize was awarded in 1958.

Russian poet and prose writer Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was born into a well-known Jewish family in Moscow. The poet's father, Leonid Pasternak, was an academician of painting; mother, née Rosa Kaufman, a famous pianist. Despite their rather modest income, the Pasternak family moved in the highest artistic circles of pre-revolutionary Russia.

Young Pasternak entered the Moscow Conservatory, but in 1910 he abandoned the idea of ​​becoming a musician and, after studying for some time at the Faculty of History and Philosophy of Moscow University, at the age of 23 he left for the University of Marburg. Having made a short trip to Italy, in the winter of 1913 he returned to Moscow. In the summer of the same year, after passing university exams, he completed his first book of poems, “Twin in the Clouds” (1914), and three years later, the second, “Over the Barriers.”

The atmosphere of revolutionary change in 1917 was reflected in the book of poems “My Sister is My Life,” published five years later, as well as in “Themes and Variations” (1923), which put him in the first rank of Russian poets. He spent most of his later life in Peredelkino, a summer cottage village for writers near Moscow.

In the 20s XX century Boris Pasternak writes two historical and revolutionary poems, “Nine Hundred and Fifth” (1925-1926) and “Lieutenant Schmidt” (1926-1927). In 1934, at the First Congress of Writers, he was already spoken of as a leading modern poet. However, praise for him soon gives way to harsh criticism due to the poet’s reluctance to limit his work to proletarian themes: from 1936 to 1943. the poet failed to publish a single book.

Knowing several foreign languages, in the 30s. translates classics of English, German and French poetry into Russian. His translations of Shakespeare's tragedies are considered the best in Russian. Only in 1943 was Pasternak’s first book in the last 8 years published - the poetry collection “On Early Trips”, and in 1945 - the second, “Earthly Expanse”.

In the 40s, continuing his poetic activity and translating, Pasternak began work on the famous novel Doctor Zhivago, the life story of Yuri Andreevich Zhivago, a doctor and poet, whose childhood was at the beginning of the century and who became a witness and participant in the First World War. , revolution, civil war, the first years of the Stalin era. The novel, initially approved for publication, was later considered unsuitable "due to the author's negative attitude towards the revolution and lack of faith in social change." The book was first published in Milan in 1957 in Italian, and by the end of 1958 it had been translated into 18 languages.

In 1958, the Swedish Academy awarded Boris Pasternak the Nobel Prize in Literature “for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the tradition of the great Russian epic novel.” But due to the insults and threats that fell upon the poet, and exclusion from the Writers' Union, he was forced to refuse the prize.

For many years, the poet’s work was artificially “unpopular” and only in the early 80s. attitudes towards Pasternak gradually began to change: the poet Andrei Voznesensky published memories of Pasternak in the magazine “New World”, a two-volume set of selected poems by the poet was published, edited by his son Evgeniy Pasternak (1986). In 1987, the Writers' Union reversed its decision to expel Pasternak after publication of the novel Doctor Zhivago began in 1988.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov(05/24/1905 - 02/02/1984). The prize was awarded in 1965.

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was born on the Kruzhilin farm in the Cossack village of Veshenskaya in the Rostov region, in southern Russia. In his works, the writer immortalized the Don River and the Cossacks who lived here both in pre-revolutionary Russia and during the civil war.

His father, a native of the Ryazan province, sowed grain on rented Cossack land, and his mother was Ukrainian. After graduating from four classes of the gymnasium, Mikhail Alexandrovich joined the Red Army in 1918. The future writer first served in a logistics support detachment, and then became a machine gunner. From the first days of the revolution he supported the Bolsheviks and advocated for Soviet power. In 1932 he joined the Communist Party, in 1937 he was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and two years later - a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1922 M.A. Sholokhov arrived in Moscow. Here he took part in the work of the literary group “Young Guard”, worked as a loader, laborer, and clerk. In 1923, his first feuilletons were published in the Yunosheskaya Pravda newspaper, and in 1924 his first story, “The Birthmark,” was published.

In the summer of 1924 he returned to the village of Veshenskaya, where he lived almost forever for the rest of his life. In 1925, a collection of feuilletons and stories by the writer about the civil war entitled “Don Stories” was published in Moscow. From 1926 to 1940 working on “The Quiet Don,” a novel that brought the writer world fame.

In the 30s M.A. Sholokhov interrupts work on “Quiet Don” and writes the second world-famous novel “Virgin Soil Upturned”. During the Great Patriotic War, Sholokhov was a war correspondent for Pravda, author of articles and reports on the heroism of the Soviet people; after the Battle of Stalingrad, the writer begins work on the third novel - the trilogy “They Fought for the Motherland.”

In the 50s The publication of the second and final volume of Virgin Soil Upturned begins, but the novel was published as a separate book only in 1960.

In 1965 M.A. Sholokhov received the Nobel Prize in Literature “for the artistic strength and integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.”

Mikhail Alexandrovich married in 1924, he had four children; The writer died in the village of Veshenskaya in 1984 at the age of 78. His works remain popular among readers.

Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn(born December 11, 1918). The prize was awarded in 1970.

Russian novelist, playwright and poet Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, in the North Caucasus. Alexander Isaevich's parents came from peasant backgrounds, but received a good education. Since the age of six he has lived in Rostov-on-Don. The childhood years of the future writer coincided with the establishment and consolidation of Soviet power.

Having successfully graduated from school, in 1938 he entered Rostov University, where, despite his interest in literature, he studied physics and mathematics. In 1941, having received a diploma in mathematics, he also graduated from the correspondence department of the Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History in Moscow.

After graduating from the university A.I. Solzhenitsyn worked as a mathematics teacher in a Rostov secondary school. During the Great Patriotic War he was mobilized and served in the artillery. In February 1945, he was suddenly arrested, stripped of the rank of captain and sentenced to 8 years in prison followed by exile to Siberia “for anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda.” From a specialized prison in Marfino near Moscow he was transferred to Kazakhstan, to a camp for political prisoners, where the future writer was diagnosed with stomach cancer and was considered doomed. However, having been released on March 5, 1953, Solzhenitsyn underwent successful radiation therapy at the Tashkent hospital and recovered. Until 1956 he lived in exile in various regions of Siberia, taught in schools, and in June 1957, after rehabilitation, he settled in Ryazan.

In 1962, his first book, “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,” was published in the “New World” magazine. A year later, several stories by Alexander Isaevich were published, including “An Incident at Krechetovka Station,” “Matrenin’s Dvor,” and “For the Good of the Cause.” The last work published in the USSR was the story “Zakhar-Kalita” (1966).

In 1967, the writer was subjected to persecution and newspaper persecution, and his works were banned. Nevertheless, the novels “In the First Circle” (1968) and “Cancer Ward” (1968-1969) end up in the West and are published there without the consent of the author. From this time begins the most difficult period of his literary activity and further life path almost until the beginning of the new century.

In 1970, Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for the moral strength drawn from the tradition of great Russian literature.” However, the Soviet government considered the decision of the Nobel Committee to be “politically hostile.” A year after receiving the Nobel Prize A.I. Solzhenitsyn allowed the publication of his works abroad, and in 1972 August the Fourteenth was published in English by a London publishing house.

In 1973, the manuscript of Solzhenitsyn’s main work, “The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956: An Experience in Artistic Research,” was confiscated. Working from memory, as well as using his own notes, which he kept in the camps and in exile, the writer restores the book that “turned the minds of many readers” and prompted millions of people to take a critical look at many pages of the history of the Soviet Union for the first time. The “GULAG Archipelago” refers to prisons, forced labor camps, and exile settlements scattered throughout the USSR. In his book, the writer uses the memoirs, oral and written testimonies of more than 200 prisoners whom he met in prison.

In 1973, the first publication of “Archipelago” was published in Paris, and on February 12, 1974, the writer was arrested, accused of treason, deprived of Soviet citizenship and deported to Germany. His second wife, Natalia Svetlova, and her three sons were allowed to join her husband later. After two years in Zurich, Solzhenitsyn and his family moved to the USA and settled in Vermont, where the writer completed the third volume of The Gulag Archipelago (Russian edition - 1976, English - 1978), and also continued work on a series of historical novels about the Russian revolution, begun by “August the fourteenth” and called “The Red Wheel”. At the end of the 1970s. In Paris, the YMCA-Press publishing house published the first 20-volume collection of Solzhenitsyn's works.

In 1989, the magazine “New World” published chapters from “The Gulag Archipelago”, and in August 1990 A.I. Solzhenitsyn was returned to Soviet citizenship. In 1994, the writer returned to his homeland, traveling by train across the country from Vladivostok to Moscow in 55 days.

In 1995, on the writer’s initiative, the Moscow government, together with Solzhenitsyn’s Russian Philosophy and the Russian publishing house in Paris, created the “Russian Abroad” library-fund. The basis of its manuscript and book fund were more than 1,500 memoirs of Russian emigrants transmitted by Solzhenitsyn, as well as collections of manuscripts and letters of Berdyaev, Tsvetaeva, Merezhkovsky and many other outstanding scientists, philosophers, writers, poets and the archives of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the First World War, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich . A significant work in recent years has been the two-volume work “200 Years Together” (2001-2002). After his arrival, the writer settled near Moscow, in Trinity-Lykovo.

Only five Russian writers have received the prestigious international Nobel Prize. For three of them, this brought not only worldwide fame, but also widespread persecution, repression and expulsion. Only one of them was approved by the Soviet government, and its last owner was “forgiven” and invited to return to his homeland.

Nobel Prize- one of the most prestigious awards, which is awarded annually for outstanding scientific research, significant inventions and significant contributions to culture and the development of society. There is one comical, but not accidental story connected with its establishment. It is known that the founder of the prize, Alfred Nobel, is also famous for the fact that it was he who invented dynamite (pursuing, however, pacifist goals, since he believed that opponents armed to the teeth would understand the stupidity and senselessness of the war and stop the conflict). When his brother Ludwig Nobel died in 1888, and newspapers erroneously “buried” Alfred Nobel, calling him a “merchant of death,” the latter seriously wondered how society would remember him. As a result of these thoughts, Alfred Nobel changed his will in 1895. And it said the following:

“All my movable and immovable property must be converted by my executors into liquid assets, and the capital thus collected must be placed in a reliable bank. The income from the investments should belong to a fund, which will distribute them annually in the form of bonuses to those who, during the previous year, have brought the greatest benefit to humanity... The said interest must be divided into five equal parts, which are intended: one part - to the one who makes the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics; the other - to the one who makes the most important discovery or improvement in the field of chemistry; the third - to the one who makes the most important discovery in the field of physiology or medicine; the fourth - to the one who creates the most outstanding literary work of an idealistic direction; fifth - to the one who will make the most significant contribution to the unity of nations, the abolition of slavery or the reduction of the strength of existing armies and the promotion of peaceful congresses ... It is my special desire that in the awarding of prizes the nationality of the candidates will not be taken into account ... ".

Medal awarded to a Nobel laureate

After conflicts with Nobel’s “deprived” relatives, the executors of his will - his secretary and lawyer - established the Nobel Foundation, whose responsibilities included organizing the presentation of bequeathed prizes. A separate institution was created to award each of the five prizes. So, Nobel Prize in literature came under the purview of the Swedish Academy. Since then, the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded annually since 1901, except for 1914, 1918, 1935 and 1940-1943. It is interesting that upon delivery Nobel Prize Only the names of the laureates are announced; all other nominations are kept secret for 50 years.

Swedish Academy building

Despite the apparent disinterest Nobel Prize, dictated by the philanthropic instructions of Nobel himself, many “left” political forces still see obvious politicization and some Western cultural chauvinism in the awarding of the prize. It is difficult not to notice that the vast majority of Nobel laureates come from the USA and European countries (more than 700 laureates), while the number of laureates from the USSR and Russia is much smaller. Moreover, there is a point of view that the majority of Soviet laureates were awarded the prize only for criticism of the USSR.

Nevertheless, these five Russian writers are laureates Nobel Prize on literature:

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin- laureate of 1933. The prize was awarded “for the strict mastery with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose.” Bunin received the prize while in exile.

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak- laureate of 1958. The prize was awarded “for significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel.” This prize is associated with the anti-Soviet novel “Doctor Zhivago”, therefore, in conditions of severe persecution, Pasternak is forced to refuse it. The medal and diploma were awarded to the writer’s son Evgeniy only in 1988 (the writer died in 1960). It is interesting that in 1958 this was the seventh attempt to present Pasternak with the prestigious prize.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov- laureate of 1965. The prize was awarded “For the artistic strength and integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.” This award has a long history. Back in 1958, a delegation of the USSR Writers' Union that visited Sweden contrasted the European popularity of Pasternak with the international popularity of Sholokhov, and in a telegram to the Soviet ambassador in Sweden dated April 7, 1958 it was said:

“It would be desirable to make it clear to the Swedish public through cultural figures close to us that the Soviet Union would highly appreciate the award Nobel Prize Sholokhov... It is also important to make it clear that Pasternak as a writer is not recognized by Soviet writers and progressive writers of other countries.”

Contrary to this recommendation, Nobel Prize in 1958, it was nevertheless awarded to Pasternak, which resulted in severe disapproval of the Soviet government. But in 1964 from Nobel Prize Jean-Paul Sartre refused, explaining, among other things, his personal regret that Sholokhov was not awarded the prize. It was this gesture of Sartre that predetermined the choice of the laureate in 1965. Thus, Mikhail Sholokhov became the only Soviet writer to receive Nobel Prize with the consent of the top leadership of the USSR.

Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn- laureate of 1970. The prize was awarded “for the moral strength with which he followed the immutable traditions of Russian literature.” Only 7 years passed from the beginning of Solzhenitsyn’s career to the award of the prize - this is the only such case in the history of the Nobel Committee. Solzhenitsyn himself spoke about the political aspect of awarding him the prize, but the Nobel Committee denied this. However, after Solzhenitsyn received the prize, a propaganda campaign was organized against him in the USSR, and in 1971, an attempt was made to physically destroy him when he was injected with a toxic substance, after which the writer survived, but was ill for a long time.

Joseph Alexandrovich Brodsky- laureate of 1987. The prize was awarded “for comprehensive creativity, imbued with clarity of thought and passion of poetry.” Awarding the prize to Brodsky no longer caused such controversy as many other decisions of the Nobel Committee, since Brodsky by that time was known in many countries. In his first interview after he was awarded the prize, he himself said: “It was received by Russian literature, and it was received by an American citizen.” And even the weakened Soviet government, shaken by perestroika, began to establish contacts with the famous exile.

These works represent more than the thousands of other books that fill bookstore shelves. Everything about them is beautiful - from the laconic language of talented writers to the topics that the authors raise.

Scenes from Provincial Life, John Maxwell Coetzee

South African John Maxwell Coetzee is the first writer to be awarded the Booker Prize twice (in 1983 and 1999). In 2003, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for creating countless guises of amazing situations involving outsiders." Coetzee's novels are characterized by well-crafted composition, rich dialogue, and analytical skill. He mercilessly criticizes the cruel rationalism and artificial morality of Western civilization. At the same time, Coetzee is one of those writers who rarely talks about his work, and even less often about himself. However, Scenes from Provincial Life, an amazing autobiographical novel, is an exception. Here Coetzee is extremely frank with the reader. He talks about his mother's painful, suffocating love, about the hobbies and mistakes that followed him for years, and about the path he had to go through to finally start writing.

"The Humble Hero", Mario Vargas Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa is a distinguished Peruvian novelist and playwright who received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his cartography of power structures and his vivid images of resistance, rebellion and the defeat of the individual.” Continuing the line of great Latin American writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar, he creates amazing novels balancing on the brink of reality and fiction. Vargas Llosa's new book, The Humble Hero, masterfully twists two parallel storylines in an elegant Marinera rhythm. The hard worker Felicito Yanaque, decent and trusting, becomes a victim of strange blackmailers. At the same time, successful businessman Ismael Carrera, in the twilight of his life, seeks revenge on his two slacker sons who want his death. And Ismael and Felicito, of course, are not heroes at all. However, where others cowardly agree, these two stage a quiet rebellion. Old acquaintances also appear on the pages of the new novel - characters from the world created by Vargas Llosa.

"Moons of Jupiter", Alice Munro

Canadian writer Alice Munro is a master of the modern short story and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. Critics constantly compare Munro to Chekhov, and this comparison is not without reason: like the Russian writer, she knows how to tell a story in such a way that readers, even those belonging to a completely different culture, recognize themselves in the characters. These twelve stories, presented in seemingly simple language, reveal amazing plot abysses. In just twenty pages, Munro manages to create a whole world - alive, tangible and incredibly attractive.

"Beloved", Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison received the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature as a writer "who brought to life an important aspect of American reality in her dreamy and poetic novels." Her most famous novel, Beloved, was published in 1987 and received a Pulitzer Prize. The book is based on real events that took place in Ohio in the 80s of the 19th century: this is the amazing story of a black slave, Sethe, who decided to take a terrible act - to give freedom, but take her life. Sethe kills her daughter to save her from slavery. The novel is about how difficult it can sometimes be to tear out the memory of the past from the heart, about difficult choices that change fate, and people who remain loved forever.

"Woman from Nowhere", Jean-Marie Gustave Leclezio

Jean-Marie Gustave Leclezio, one of the greatest living French writers, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2008. He is the author of thirty books, including novels, stories, essays and articles. In the presented book, for the first time in Russian, two stories by Leclezio are published at once: “The Storm” and “The Woman from Nowhere.” The action of the first takes place on an island lost in the Sea of ​​Japan, the second - in Cote d'Ivoire and the Parisian suburbs. However, despite such a vast geography, the heroines of both stories are very similar in some ways - these are teenage girls who are desperately striving to find their place in an inhospitable, hostile world. The Frenchman Leclezio, who lived for a long time in the countries of South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Thailand and on his native island of Mauritius, writes about how a person who grew up in the lap of pristine nature feels in the oppressive space of modern civilization.

My Strange Thoughts, Orhan Pamuk

Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006 “for finding new symbols for the clash and interweaving of cultures in his search for the melancholy soul of his hometown.” “My Strange Thoughts” is the author’s latest novel, on which he worked for six years. The main character, Mevlut, works on the streets of Istanbul, watching as the streets fill with new people, and the city gains and loses new and old buildings. Before his eyes, coups take place, authorities change each other, and Mevlut still wanders the streets on winter evenings, wondering what distinguishes him from other people, why he has strange thoughts about everything in the world, and who really is his the beloved to whom he has been writing letters for the last three years.

“Legends of our time. Occupation Essays”, Czeslaw Miłosz

Czeslaw Miłosz is a Polish poet and essayist who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1980 “for showing with fearless clairvoyance the vulnerability of man in a world torn by conflict.” “Legends of Modernity” is the first translated into Russian “confession of the son of the century”, written by Milosz on the ruins of Europe in 1942–1943. It includes essays on outstanding literary (Defoe, Balzac, Stendhal, Tolstoy, Gide, Witkiewicz) and philosophical (James, Nietzsche, Bergson) texts, and polemical correspondence between C. Milosz and E. Andrzejewski. Exploring modern myths and prejudices, appealing to the tradition of rationalism, Milos tries to find a foothold for European culture, humiliated by two world wars.

Photo: Getty Images, press service archive

Dedicated to the great Russian writers.

From October 21 to November 21, 2015, the Library and Information Complex invites you to an exhibition dedicated to the works of Nobel laureates in literature from Russia and the USSR.

A Belarusian writer received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2015. The award was awarded to Svetlana Alexievich with the following wording: “For her polyphonic creativity - a monument to suffering and courage in our time.” At the exhibition we also presented works by Svetlana Alexandrovna.

The exhibition can be viewed at the address: Leningradsky Prospekt, 49, 1st floor, room. 100.

The prizes, established by the Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, are considered the most honorable in the world. They are awarded annually (since 1901) for outstanding work in the field of medicine or physiology, physics, chemistry, for literary works, for contributions to strengthening peace, economics (since 1969).

The Nobel Prize in Literature is an award for achievements in the field of literature, awarded annually by the Nobel Committee in Stockholm on December 10. According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, the following persons can nominate candidates: members of the Swedish Academy, other academies, institutes and societies with similar tasks and goals; university professors of literary history and linguistics; Nobel Prize laureates in literature; chairmen of authors' unions representing literary creativity in the respective countries.

Unlike laureates of other prizes (for example, physics and chemistry), the decision to award the Nobel Prize in Literature is made by members of the Swedish Academy. The Swedish Academy unites 18 Swedish figures. The Academy includes historians, linguists, writers and one lawyer. They are known in society as "Eighteen". Membership in the academy is for life. After the death of one of the members, the academicians elect a new academician by secret vote. The Academy selects a Nobel Committee from among its members. It is he who deals with the issue of awarding the prize.

Nobel laureates in literature from Russia and the USSR :

• I. A. Bunin(1933 "For the strict skill with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose")
• B.L. Parsnip(1958 "For significant achievements in modern lyric poetry, as well as for continuing the traditions of the great Russian epic novel")
• M. A. Sholokhov(1965 “For the artistic strength and honesty with which he depicted the historical era in the life of the Russian people in his Don epic”)
• A. I. Solzhenitsyn(1970 "For the moral strength with which he followed the immutable traditions of Russian literature")
• I. A. Brodsky(1987 "For comprehensive creativity, imbued with clarity of thought and passion of poetry")

Russian literature laureates are people with different, sometimes opposing, views. I. A. Bunin and A. I. Solzhenitsyn are staunch opponents of Soviet power, and M. A. Sholokhov, on the contrary, is a communist. However, the main thing they have in common is their undoubted talent, for which they were awarded Nobel Prizes.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is a famous Russian writer and poet, an outstanding master of realistic prose, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1920, Bunin emigrated to France.

The most difficult thing for a writer in exile is to remain himself. It happens that, having left his homeland due to the need to make dubious compromises, he is again forced to kill his spirit in order to survive. Fortunately, Bunin escaped this fate. Despite any trials, Bunin always remained true to himself.

In 1922, Ivan Alekseevich’s wife, Vera Nikolaevna Muromtseva, wrote in her diary that Romain Rolland nominated Bunin for the Nobel Prize. From then on, Ivan Alekseevich lived with hopes that someday he would be awarded this prize. 1933 All newspapers in Paris came out on November 10 with large headlines: “Bunin - Nobel laureate.” Every Russian in Paris, even the loader at the Renault plant, who had never read Bunin, took this as a personal holiday. Because my compatriot turned out to be the best, the most talented! In the Parisian taverns and restaurants that evening there were Russians, who sometimes drank for “one of their own” with their last pennies.

On the day the prize was awarded, November 9, Ivan Alekseevich Bunin watched the “cheerful stupidity” “Baby” in the cinema. Suddenly the darkness of the hall was cut through by a narrow beam of a flashlight. They were looking for Bunin. He was called by telephone from Stockholm.

“And immediately my whole old life ends. I go home quite quickly, but without feeling anything other than regret that I was not able to watch the film. But no. I can’t help but believe: the whole house is glowing with lights. And my heart squeezes with some kind of sadness ... Some kind of turning point in my life,” recalled I. A. Bunin.

Exciting days in Sweden. In the concert hall, in the presence of the king, after the report of the writer, member of the Swedish Academy Peter Hallström on the work of Bunin, he was presented with a folder with a Nobel diploma, a medal and a check for 715 thousand French francs.

When presenting the award, Bunin noted that the Swedish Academy acted very bravely by awarding the emigrant writer. Among the contenders for this year’s prize was another Russian writer, M. Gorky, however, largely thanks to the publication of the book “The Life of Arsenyev” by that time, the scales nevertheless tipped in the direction of Ivan Alekseevich.

Returning to France, Bunin feels rich and, sparing no expense, distributes “benefits” to emigrants and donates funds to support various societies. Finally, on the advice of well-wishers, he invests the remaining amount in a “win-win business” and is left with nothing.

Bunin’s friend, poet and prose writer Zinaida Shakhovskaya, in her memoir book “Reflection,” noted: “With skill and a small amount of practicality, the prize should have been enough to last. But the Bunins did not buy either an apartment or a villa...”

Unlike M. Gorky, A. I. Kuprin, A. N. Tolstoy, Ivan Alekseevich did not return to Russia, despite the admonitions of the Moscow “messengers”. I never came to my homeland, not even as a tourist.

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (1890-1960) was born in Moscow in the family of the famous artist Leonid Osipovich Pasternak. Mother, Rosalia Isidorovna, was a talented pianist. Maybe that’s why, as a child, the future poet dreamed of becoming a composer and even studied music with Alexander Nikolaevich Scriabin. However, the love of poetry won out. B. L. Pasternak's fame was brought by his poetry, and his bitter trials by "Doctor Zhivago", a novel about the fate of the Russian intelligentsia.

The editors of the literary magazine, to which Pasternak offered the manuscript, considered the work anti-Soviet and refused to publish it. Then the writer transferred the novel abroad, to Italy, where it was published in 1957. The very fact of publication in the West was sharply condemned by Soviet creative colleagues, and Pasternak was expelled from the Writers' Union. However, it was Doctor Zhivago that made Boris Pasternak a Nobel laureate. The writer was nominated for the Nobel Prize starting in 1946, but was awarded it only in 1958, after the release of the novel. The conclusion of the Nobel Committee says: "... for significant achievements both in modern lyric poetry and in the field of the great Russian epic tradition."

At home, the award of such an honorary prize to an “anti-Soviet novel” aroused the indignation of the authorities, and under the threat of deportation from the country, the writer was forced to refuse the award. Only 30 years later, his son, Evgeniy Borisovich Pasternak, received a diploma and a Nobel laureate medal for his father.

The fate of another Nobel laureate, Alexander Isaevich Solzhenitsyn, is no less dramatic. He was born in 1918 in Kislovodsk, and his childhood and youth were spent in Novocherkassk and Rostov-on-Don. After graduating from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Rostov University, A.I. Solzhenitsyn taught and at the same time studied by correspondence at the Literary Institute in Moscow. When the Great Patriotic War began, the future writer went to the front.

Shortly before the end of the war, Solzhenitsyn was arrested. The reason for the arrest was critical remarks against Stalin, found by military censorship in Solzhenitsyn's letters. He was released after Stalin's death (1953). In 1962, the magazine "New World" published the first story - "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", telling about the life of prisoners in the camp. Literary magazines refused to publish most of the subsequent works. There was only one explanation: anti-Soviet orientation. However, the writer did not give up and sent the manuscripts abroad, where they were published. Alexander Isaevich did not limit himself to literary activities - he fought for the freedom of political prisoners in the USSR, and sharply criticized the Soviet system.

The literary works and political position of A. I. Solzhenitsyn were well known abroad, and in 1970 he was awarded the Nobel Prize. The writer did not go to Stockholm for the award ceremony: he was not allowed to leave the country. Representatives of the Nobel Committee, who wanted to present the prize to the laureate at home, were not allowed into the USSR.

In 1974, A.I. Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the country. First he lived in Switzerland, then moved to the USA, where, with a significant delay, he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Such works as “In the First Circle”, “The Gulag Archipelago”, “August 1914”, “Cancer Ward” were published in the West. In 1994, A. Solzhenitsyn returned to his homeland, traveling across all of Russia, from Vladivostok to Moscow.

The fate of Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, the only Russian Nobel Prize laureate in literature who was supported by government agencies, turned out differently. M. A. Sholokhov (1905-1980) was born in the south of Russia, on the Don - in the center of the Russian Cossacks. He later described his small homeland - the village of Kruzhilin in the village of Veshenskaya - in many works. Sholokhov graduated from only four classes of the gymnasium. He actively participated in the events of the civil war, led a food detachment that took away the so-called surplus grain from rich Cossacks.

Already in his youth, the future writer felt a penchant for literary creativity. In 1922, Sholokhov came to Moscow, and in 1923 he began publishing his first stories in newspapers and magazines. In 1926, the collections “Don Stories” and “Azure Steppe” were published. Work on “The Quiet Don” - a novel about the life of the Don Cossacks during the Great Turning Point (the First World War, revolutions and civil war) - began in 1925. The first part of the novel was published in 1928, and Sholokhov completed it in the 30s . “Quiet Don” became the pinnacle of the writer’s creativity, and in 1965 he was awarded the Nobel Prize “for the artistic strength and completeness with which he depicted the historical phase in the life of the Russian people in his epic work about the Don.” "Quiet Don" has been translated in 45 countries into several dozen languages.

By the time he received the Nobel Prize, Joseph Brodsky’s bibliography included six collections of poems, the poem “Gorbunov and Gorchakov,” the play “Marble,” and many essays (written mainly in English). However, in the USSR, from where the poet was expelled in 1972, his works were distributed mainly in samizdat, and he received the prize while already a citizen of the United States of America.

A spiritual connection with his homeland was important to him. He kept Boris Pasternak's tie as a relic and even wanted to wear it to the Nobel Prize ceremony, but protocol rules did not allow it. Nevertheless, Brodsky still came with Pasternak’s tie in his pocket. After perestroika, Brodsky was invited to Russia more than once, but he never came to his homeland, which rejected him. “You can’t step into the same river twice, even if it’s the Neva,” he said.

From Brodsky’s Nobel Lecture: “A person with taste, particularly literary taste, is less susceptible to repetition and rhythmic incantations inherent in any form of political demagoguery. The point is not so much that virtue is no guarantee of a masterpiece, but that evil, especially political evil, is always a poor stylist. The richer the aesthetic experience of an individual, the firmer his taste, the clearer his moral choice, the freer he is - although perhaps not happier. It is in this applied rather than platonic sense that one should understand Dostoevsky’s remark that “beauty will save the world,” or Matthew Arnold’s statement that “poetry will save us.” The world probably won’t be able to be saved, but an individual can always be saved.”

During the entire period of the Nobel Prize, Russian writers were awarded 5 times. Nobel Prize laureates included 5 Russian writers and one Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, author of the following works: “ War does not have a woman's face», « Zinc boys"and other works written in Russian. The wording for the award was: “ For the polyphonic sound of her prose and the perpetuation of suffering and courage»

2.2. Boris Pasternak- Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958. Awarded " for outstanding services in modern lyric poetry and in the field of great Russian prose» . For Pasternak himself, the prize brought nothing but problems and a campaign under the slogan “ I haven’t read it, but I condemn it!" The writer was forced to refuse the prize under threat of expulsion from the country. The Swedish Academy recognized Pasternak's refusal of the prize as forced and in 1989 awarded a diploma and medal to his son.

Nobel Prize I was lost, like an animal in a pen. Somewhere there are people, freedom, light, And behind me there is the sound of a chase, I can’t go outside. Dark forest and the shore of a pond, Spruce felled log. The path is cut off from everywhere. Whatever happens, it doesn't matter. What kind of dirty trick have I done? Am I a murderer and a villain? I made the whole world cry over the beauty of my land. But even so, almost at the grave, I believe the time will come - The power of meanness and malice will be overcome by the spirit of good.
B. Pasternak

2.3. Mikhail Sholokhov. The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded in 1965. The award was presented to " for the artistic power and integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia». In his speech during the award ceremony, Sholokhov said that his goal was " extol the nation of workers, builders and heroes».

2.4. Alexander Solzhenitsyn– laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature 1970 « for the moral strength gleaned from the tradition of great Russian literature». The government of the Soviet Union considered the decision of the Nobel Committee " politically hostile", and Solzhenitsyn, fearing that after his trip he would not be able to return to his homeland, accepted the award, but was not present at the award ceremony.

2.5. Joseph Brodsky- laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987. Prize awarded « for his multifaceted creativity, marked by sharpness of thought and deep poetry». In 1972, he was forced to emigrate from the USSR and lived in the USA.

2.6. In 2015, the prize was sensationally received by a Belarusian writer and journalist Svetlana Alexievich. She wrote such works as “War Doesn’t Have a Woman’s Face”, “Zinc Boys”, “Enchanted by Death”, “Chernobyl Prayer”, “Second Hand Time” and others. It’s quite a rare event in recent years when a prize was given to a person who writes in Russian.

3. Nobel Prize nominees

The Nobel Prize in Literature is the most prestigious award, which has been awarded annually by the Nobel Foundation for achievements in the field of literature since 1901. A writer who has been awarded the prize appears in the eyes of millions of people as an incomparable talent or genius who, with his creativity, managed to win the hearts of readers from all over the world.

However, there are a number of famous writers who were bypassed by the Nobel Prize for various reasons, but they were no less worthy of it than their fellow laureates, and sometimes even more. Who are they?

Half a century later, the Nobel Committee reveals its secrets, so today we know not only who received awards in the first half of the 20th century, but also who did not receive them, remaining among the nominees.

First time among the literary nominees Nobel“Russians” dates back to 1901 - then Leo Tolstoy was nominated for the award among other nominees, but he did not become the winner of the prestigious award for several more years. Leo Tolstoy would be present in the nominations every year until 1906, and the only reason why the author " War and Peace"did not become the first Russian laureate" Nobel”, became his own decisive refusal of the award, as well as a request not to award it.

M. Gorky was nominated in 1918, 1923, 1928, 1930, 1933 (5 times)

Konstantin Balmont was nominated in 1923,

Dmitry Merezhkovsky -1914, 1915, 1930, 1931 – 1937 (10 times)

Shmelev – 1928, 1932

Mark Aldanov – 1934, 1938, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951 – 1956,1957 (12 times)

Leonid Leonov -1949,1950.

Konstantin Paustovsky -1965, 1967

And how many geniuses of Russian literature were not even declared among the nominees Bulgakov, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Mandelstam, Yevgeny Yevtushenko... Everyone can continue this brilliant series with the names of their favorite writers and poets.

Why were Russian writers and poets so rarely among the laureates?

It is no secret that the prize is often awarded for political reasons. , says Philip Nobel, a descendant of Alfred Nobel. - But there is another important reason. In 1896, Alfred left a condition in his will: the capital of the Nobel Foundation must be invested in shares of strong companies that provide good profits. In the 20-30s of the last century, the fund's money was invested primarily in American corporations. Since then, the Nobel Committee and the United States have had very close ties.”

Anna Akhmatova may have received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966, but she... died on March 5, 1966, so her name was not later considered. According to the rules of the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Prize can only be awarded to living writers. The prize was received only by those writers who quarreled with the Soviet regime: Joseph Brodsky, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak, Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

The Swedish Academy of Sciences did not favor Russian literature: at the beginning of the twentieth century, it rejected L.N. Tolstoy and did not notice the brilliant A.P. Chekhov, passed by no less significant writers and poets of the twentieth century: M. Gorky, V. Mayakovsky, M. Bulgakov and others. It should also be noted that I. Bunin, like later other Nobel laureates (B. Pasternak, A. Solzhenitsyn , I. Brodsky) was in a state of acute conflict with the Soviet regime.

Be that as it may, the great writers and poets, Nobel Prize laureates, whose creative path was thorny, built a pedestal for themselves with their brilliant creations. The personality of these great sons of Russia is enormous not only in the Russian, but also in the world literary process. And they will remain in people’s memory as long as humanity lives and creates.

« Exploded Heart»… This is how we can characterize the state of mind of our compatriot writers who became Nobel Prize laureates. They are our pride! And our pain and shame for what was done to I.A. Bunin and B.L. Pasternak, A.I. Solzhenitsyn and I.A. Brodsky by the official authorities, for their forced loneliness and exile. In St. Petersburg there is a monument to Nobel on Petrovskaya Embankment. True, this monument is a sculptural composition “ Exploded tree».

Fantasy about Nobel. There is no need to dream about the Nobel, After all, it is awarded by chance, And someone, alien to the highest standards, Keeps joyless secrets. I have not been to distant Sweden, As in the dreams of snow-covered Nepal, And Brodsky wanders around Venice And silently looks into the canals. He was an outcast who did not know love, slept in a hurry and ate unsweetened, but, having changed the plus for the minus, he married an aristocrat.

Sitting in Venetian bars and having conversations with counts, He mixed cognac with resentment, Antiquity with the Internet age. Rhymes were born from the surf, I had the strength to write them down. But what about poetry? They are empty, Once again Nobel came out of the grave. I asked: - Let the genius be Brodsky. Let him shine in a pair of tails, But Paustovsky lived somewhere, Not Sholokhov in a pair of cognac. Zabolotsky lived, fell into the abyss, and was resurrected, and became great. Once upon a time Simonov lived, gray-haired and sober, counting the Tashkent ditches. Well, what about Tvardovsky? Nice sidekick, that's the one who molds the lines so well! Where are you looking, Uncle Nobel? Mendel.