How the Nobel Committee refused to award the prize to Leo Tolstoy. Five famous refusals of the Nobel Prize Leo Tolstoy received the Nobel Prize for what

Leo Tolstoy (1902–1906)

The history of the Nobel Prize in Literature began in 1901 - and immediately with a scandal. Its first laureate was the French poet Sully-Prudhomme. Forty-two Swedish critics and writers - including future Nobel laureates Selma Lagerlöf and Werner von Heydenstam - were dumbfounded: the main author in the world, in their opinion, was Leo Tolstoy. August Strindberg launched into a long-winded article, calling academics unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature. Tolstoy himself received, the authors of which called him “the most revered patriarch of modern literature” and made excuses: the committee’s choice, they say, does not reflect the opinions of either critics or readers. In response to Oscar Levertin, one of the forty-two authors, Tolstoy said: “I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me.<…>this saved me from a great difficulty in disposing of this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil.”

A piquant detail: among the twenty-three contenders for the first prize, Tolstoy was not present at all. But now - mainly through the efforts of French academicians - the count was nominated every year. However, he never received the prize, not least because of the unflattering description that Alfred Jensen, an expert on Slavic literature, wrote for the committee. Jensen's philosophy of the late Tolstoy is destructive and contrary to the idealistic nature of the prize. Later, however, the researcher spoke more flatteringly about Tolstoy - but he still was not offended. In 1906, the writer even of his Swedish colleagues “tried to ensure that I was not awarded this prize,” because “if this happened, it would be very unpleasant for me to refuse.” The committee listened and was relieved to stop putting him on the list.

Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1914, 1915, 1930–1937)

After Tolstoy's death, the most famous Russian novelist in Europe became Dmitry Merezhkovsky, whose candidacy was proposed in 1914 by the first director of the Pushkin House, Nestor Kotlyarevsky. The committee again turned to Alfred Jensen for feedback: the philologist noted the kinship of his work with the works of Nadson, Pushkin and Baudelaire and generally praised the candidate “for his artistic mastery of depiction, universal content and idealistic direction.” However, history intervened in the matter: the First World War broke out - and they decided not to award the prize.

The following year, Merezhkovsky was nominated by a Swedish writer, at whose suggestion Selma Lagerlöf had already received the award. In his new review, Jensen was merciless towards Merezhkovsky, calling him “a collector of details, quotes and simply copied pages” and pointing out that he is far from real masters like Leo Tolstoy; an astonishing judgment, considering that he had previously criticized Tolstoy. However, when the author of “The Lower Depths” and “Mother” first appeared among the nominees, Jensen again changed his position, complaining that “Maxim Gorky was included in the 1918 list of Russian writers, while the name of Merezhkovsky does not appear,” and that Merezhkovsky's legacy "will forever preserve his name regardless of the Nobel Prize."

Low competition could have played into Merezhkovsky’s hands: warring Europe had no time for literature. But in February, the committee added thirteen more names left over from last year to the eleven applicants. The laureate then became Romain Rolland, who later himself became three Russian authors - Maxim Gorky, Ivan Bunin and Konstantin Balmont.

Merezhkovsky again began to compete for the prize only fifteen years later. The poet and translator Sigurd Agrel nominated it for seven years in a row - sometimes alone, sometimes in company with Bunin and Gorky. Merezhkovsky was considered by many to be the favorite (feuilletonist Alexander Amfitheatrov even rushed to congratulate him on receiving the Nobel Prize), but the writer himself did not overestimate his chances. Vera Bunina, as Merezhkovsky busily suggested that Bunin share the prize: if one of them wins, he will give the second 200,000 francs. Bunin refused with contempt, and in 1933 he received it - solo. Merezhkovsky, however, did not give up trying - he made connections, wrote letters, became friends with Gustav Nobel, Alfred's nephew - but in vain: he never received the award.

Maxim Gorky (1918, 1923, 1928, 1933)

Maxim Gorky was not nominated for the Nobel Prize as often as some - only four times. But he received nominations with mathematical precision: once every five years and always in the year of his next anniversary.

Gorky presented a problem for the Nobel Committee. On the one hand, it was impossible to ignore a talent of such magnitude; on the other hand, the Swedes were embarrassed by his political views. The same Jensen in 1918, when the fifty-year-old Gorky was nominated for the first time, praised the writer’s early works and later ones: Gorky’s “anarchist and often completely crude creations” “in no way fit into the framework of the Nobel Prize.” However, the award was not presented that time again.
Five years later, Jensen’s successor Anton Karlgren added new accusations: in Gorky’s work after 1905, in his opinion, there is “not the slightest echo of ardent love for the homeland,” and in general his books are a complete “sterile desert.” The committee also agreed with him, preferring Gorky (and at the same time Bunin) to the Irishman William Butler Yeats.

In 1928, two Swedish writers vouched for the “petrel of the revolution” - Werner von Heydenstam and Thor Hedberg. The Nobel committee was impressed by the persistence of the Russian author's fans, and Gorky was even considered a favorite, but the prize was won by the Norwegian novelist Sigrid Undset.

Finally, in 1933, Sigurd Agrel nominated Gorky. According to him, the prize should either be awarded to Bunin, or divided between him and Merezhkovsky (the latter would have liked this option), or divided between Bunin and Gorky. The committee gave preference to the author of “The Life of Arsenyev”. Gorky died in 1936, without waiting for another nomination.

Vladimir Nabokov (1963–…)

Back in the 1930s, when Bunin, Gorky and Merezhkovsky were fighting for the prize, Vera Bunina wrote in her diary: “I read Sirina. How light it is and how modern it is. This is who will soon be a candidate for the Nobel Prize.” The prediction almost came true: Nabokov received his first nomination only in 1963. By this point he had already become one of the best novelists of the century, but one of his books still embarrassed the academy: “The author of the immoral and successful novel Lolita cannot under any circumstances be considered as a candidate for the prize,” wrote a permanent member of the Swedish Academy Anders Oesterling.

For at least three years in a row, Nabokov was among the nominees, but lost. In 1964, the prize was awarded to Sartre (the Frenchman refused it), and in 1965, to Nabokov’s former compatriot Sholokhov. Most likely, Nabokov was nominated later (we will find out about this when the archives are opened). In a May 1969 review of Ada, New York Times critic John Leonard wrote, "If he doesn't win the Nobel Prize, it will be because it's unworthy of him."

In 1970, Alexander Solzhenitsyn became the laureate. Nabokov was not enthusiastic about the author of The Gulag Archipelago, as well as Brodsky, but he never criticized them in the press and spoke with reserved respect. He responded that Nabokov left his native language, but recognized in him “a dazzling literary talent, exactly what we call genius,” and publicly asked the Nobel Committee to finally pay tribute to the Russian-American writer.
When Solzhenitsyn was deprived of citizenship and expelled from the USSR in February 1974, Nabokov immediately wrote to him, thanked him for his support and invited him to see him. In the fall, Solzhenitsyn arrived in the Swiss city of Montreux, where Nabokov and his wife lived, and received a note inviting him to meet. Without answering anything, Nabokov immediately ordered a separate office in the restaurant and went there to wait for Solzhenitsyn. The same one was in the dark and spent the entire morning of October 6 calling Nabokov’s empty room, not daring to go into the restaurant. According to culturologist Boris Paramonov, Nabokov deliberately “avoided meeting Solzhenitsyn,” but, apparently, the non-meeting was the result of an absurd accident. Nabokov himself believed that it was Solzhenitsyn who changed his mind about getting to know him. “I probably seem too verbal to him, carelessly apolitical,” he complained to Bella Akhmadulina. The two main Russian emigrant writers never crossed paths. The first couple were Miguel Angel Asturias and Jorge Louis Borges: Asturias became a laureate in 1967, while the Argentine prose writer inappropriately became friends with Pinochet and thereby deprived himself of a chance for a Nobel Prize. Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs shared the prize for the following year. Well, the third option was the parallel awarding of Mikhail Sholokhov and Anna Akhmatova. Committee Chairman Anders Oesterling, however, considered this move too compromising and insisted that the prize go into one person's hands. It was received by Sholokhov, who was nominated for the seventh time. A year later, Akhmatova died, and this nomination remained her only one.

When turning to the more than century-long history of this prize, from the very beginning the bias of the members of the Swedish Academy who decided on who would be the Nobel laureate becomes clear and undeniable. Thus, during the period of awarding the first prizes, he was undoubtedly the greatest representative of world literature. Lev Tolstoy. However, the most influential secretary of the Swedish Academy, Karl Virsen, recognizing that Tolstoy created immortal creations, still categorically opposed his candidacy, because this writer, as he formulated, “condemned all forms of civilization and insisted in their place to accept a primitive way of life, divorced from all institutions high culture... Anyone who encounters such inert cruelty (-) towards any form of civilization will be overcome by doubt. No one will agree with such views...”

After the very first dubious award, public opinion in Sweden and other countries was shocked by the decision of the Nobel Academy. A month after the scandalous award, in January 1902, Leo Tolstoy received a protest address from a group of Swedish writers and artists:

“In view of the award of the Nobel Prize for the first time, we, the undersigned writers, artists and critics of Sweden, want to express our admiration to you. We see in you not only the highly revered patriarch of modern literature, but also one of those powerful soulful poets who in this case should be mentioned remember first of all, although you, in your personal judgment, never aspired to this kind of award, we feel the more keenly the need to address you with this greeting that, in our opinion, the institution that was entrusted with the award of the literary prize does not represent in "In its present composition, neither the opinions of writers-artists, nor public opinion. Let them know abroad that even in our remote country, the main and most powerful art is considered to be that which rests on freedom of thought and creativity." This letter was signed by more than forty prominent figures of Swedish literature and art.

On January 24, 1902, an article by the writer August Strindberg appeared in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stating in it that the majority of members of the Academy “are unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature, who for some reason are called upon to administer justice, but the concepts of these gentlemen about art are so They are childishly naive that they call poetry only what is written in verse, preferably in rhyme. And if, for example, Tolstoy forever became famous as a depicter of human destinies, if he is the creator of historical frescoes, then he is not considered a poet by them on the grounds that he is not wrote poetry!"

Another judgment on this matter belongs to the famous Danish literary critic Georg Brandes: “Leo Tolstoy holds first place among modern writers. No one inspires such a feeling of reverence as he does! We can say: no one but him inspires a feeling of reverence.”

Numerous appeals and demands for the restoration of outraged justice forced Tolstoy himself to speak out: “Dear and respected brothers! I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me. Firstly, this saved me from a great difficulty - to manage this money, which, as and all money, in my opinion, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people, although unknown to me, but still deeply respected by me. Accept, dear brothers, an expression of my sincere gratitude and best feelings. Leo Tolstoy."

Many “defenders” of Nobel experts refer to Tolstoy’s own refusal to accept the prize if he is awarded it. This statement of the writer actually took place, but later, towards the end of 1906. In 1905, Tolstoy's new work, The Great Sin, was published. In this work, Tolstoy spoke out in the most categorical form, reasoned and extremely convincingly against private ownership of land. The Russian Academy of Sciences had a completely understandable idea to nominate Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. In a note compiled for this purpose by outstanding Russian scientists, academicians A.F. Koni, K.K. Arsenyev and N.P. The Kondakovs gave the highest praise to War and Peace and Resurrection. And in conclusion, on behalf of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, a wish was expressed to award Tolstoy the Nobel Prize.

This note was also approved by the Class of Fine Literature of the Academy of Sciences. On January 19, 1906, along with a copy of Tolstoy’s “The Great Sin,” the note was sent to Sweden.

As soon as he heard about such a great honor, Tolstoy wrote to the Finnish writer Arvid Ernefeld: “If this happened, it would be very unpleasant for me to refuse, and therefore I very much ask you, if you have - as I think - any connections in Sweden, try to make sure that I am not awarded this prize. Maybe you know one of the members, maybe you can write to the chairman, asking him not to disclose this, so that this is not done. I ask you to do what you can, in addition , so that they don’t give me bonuses and don’t put me in a very unpleasant position - to refuse it.”

Which of the great Russian writers and poets was awarded the Nobel Prize? Mikhail Sholokhov, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky.

Joseph Brodsky, a virtually unknown poet in Russia, suddenly became the winner of the most prestigious literary prize in the world. What an amazing case!

However, why is it surprising? At first, they wanted to bury Joseph Brodsky in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, next to the emperors, and then, according to his will, they scattered his ashes over the canals in Naples. So the award is quite natural.

Who now remembers the name of the first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, who received it in December 1901 - the French poet René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme. He is not known, and has never really been known, even in his native France.

And there are plenty of such, to put it mildly, dubious laureates among the Nobel laureates! But at the same time, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, Ibsen, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Leo Tolstoy lived and worked!

When you get acquainted with the long list of writers noted at various times by the Nobel Committee, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking that you have never heard four names out of every ten. And five of the remaining six are nothing special either. Their “star” works have long been forgotten. The thought naturally comes to mind: it turns out that the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded for some other merit? Judging by the life and work of the same Joseph Brodsky, then yes!

“In view of the award of the Nobel Prize for the first time, we, the undersigned writers, artists and critics of Sweden, want to express our admiration to you. We see in you not only the highly revered patriarch of modern literature, but also one of those powerful, soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all, although you, in your personal judgment, never aspired to this kind of award. We feel the need to address you with this greeting all the more vividly because, in our opinion, the institution that was entrusted with the award of the literary prize does not, in its current composition, represent either the opinion of writers and artists or public opinion. Let them know abroad that even in our remote country, the main and most powerful art is considered to be that which rests on freedom of thought and creativity.” This letter was signed by more than forty prominent figures of Swedish literature and art.

Everyone knew: there is only one writer in the world worthy of being the first to receive the world's highest award. And this is the writer Leo Tolstoy. In addition, it was at the turn of the century that the writer’s new brilliant creation was published - the novel “Resurrection,” which Alexander Blok would later call “the testament of the outgoing century to the new.”

On January 24, 1902, an article by the writer August Strindberg appeared in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stating in it that the majority of members of the Academy “are unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature, who for some reason are called upon to administer justice, but the concepts of these gentlemen about art are so They are childishly naive that they call poetry only what is written in verse, preferably in rhyme. And if, for example, Tolstoy became forever famous as a depicter of human destinies, if he is the creator of historical frescoes, then he is not considered a poet by them on the grounds that he did not write poetry!

Another judgment on this matter belongs to the famous Danish literary critic Georg Brandes: “Leo Tolstoy holds first place among modern writers. No one inspires such a sense of reverence as he does! We can say: no one but him inspires a feeling of reverence. When, at the first award of the Nobel Prize, it was given to a noble and subtle, but second-rate poet, all the best Swedish authors sent an address to Leo Tolstoy for their signatures, in which they protested against such an award of this distinction. It went without saying that it should have belonged to only one thing - the great writer of Russia, for whom they unanimously recognized the right to this prize.”

Numerous appeals and demands for the restoration of outraged justice forced Tolstoy himself to take up his pen: “Dear and respected brothers! I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me. Firstly, it saved me from a great difficulty - managing this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people, although unfamiliar to me, but still deeply respected by me. Please accept, dear brothers, my sincere gratitude and best feelings. Lev Tolstoy".

It would seem that this could be the end of the question?! But no! The whole story received an unexpected continuation.

Having learned that the Russian Academy of Sciences nominated him as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Leo Tolstoy on October 7, 1906, in a letter to his friend, Finnish writer and translator Arvid Järnefelt, asked that the prize not be awarded to him.

“If this happened, I would be very unpleasant to refuse,” wrote the author of War and Peace. Järnefelt complied with the request and the prize was awarded to the Italian poet Giosue Carducci. As a result, everyone was happy: both Carducci and Tolstoy. The latter wrote: “This saved me from great difficulty in disposing of this money, which, like any money, in my opinion, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people.” , although not familiar to me, but still deeply respected by me."

In 1905, Tolstoy's new work, The Great Sin, was published. This, now almost forgotten, acutely journalistic book talked about the difficult lot of the Russian peasantry. Now they don’t remember it also because in this work Tolstoy spoke out in the most categorical form, reasoned and extremely convincingly against private ownership of land.

The Russian Academy of Sciences had a completely understandable idea to nominate Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. In a note compiled for this purpose by outstanding Russian scientists, academicians A.F. Koni, K.K. Arsenyev and N.P. The Kondakovs gave the highest praise to “War and Peace” and “Resurrection”. And in conclusion, on behalf of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, a wish was expressed to award Tolstoy the Nobel Prize.

This note was also approved by the Department of Fine Literature of the Academy of Sciences - there was such an organizational structure at the Academy at that time. On January 19, 1906, along with a copy of Tolstoy’s “The Great Sin,” the note was sent to Sweden.

As soon as he heard about such a great honor, Tolstoy wrote to the Finnish writer Arvid Ernefeld: “If this happened, it would be very unpleasant for me to refuse, and therefore I very much ask you, if you have - as I think - any connections in Sweden, try to make sure that I am not awarded this prize. Maybe you know one of the members, maybe you can write to the chairman, asking him not to disclose this, so that they don’t do it. I ask you to do what you can so that they do not award me a bonus and do not put me in a very unpleasant position - to refuse it.”

In fact, the Nobel Prize only partially reflects the true merits to humanity of a particular writer, scientist or politician. Nine out of ten Nobel laureates in the field of literature were ordinary artisans from literature and did not leave any noticeable mark on it. And only about one or two out of these ten were truly brilliant.

So why then were the others given bonuses and honors?

The presence of a genius among the awarded gave the award to the rest of the very, very dubious company the illusion of authenticity and deservedness. Apparently, in this most sophisticated way, the Nobel Committee tried and is trying to influence the literary and political preferences of society, the formation of its tastes, affections and, ultimately, neither more nor less, on the worldview of all mankind, on its future.

Remember with what enthusiastic aspiration the majority says: “So-and-so is a Nobel laureate!!!” But the Nobel laureates were not only geniuses who worked for the benefit of people, but also destructive individuals.

So the money bags, through the banker's Nobel Prize, are trying to buy the very soul of the World. Apparently, the great Tolstoy understood this before anyone else - he understood, and did not want his name to be used to endorse such a terrible idea.

The winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced very soon. In the entire history, only five Russian writers and poets - Ivan Bunin (1933), Boris Pasternak (1958), Mikhail Sholokhov (1965), Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1970) and Joseph Brodsky (1987) - were awarded this prestigious award. Meanwhile, other prominent representatives of Russian literature also applied for the prize, but they never managed to receive the coveted medal. Read about which of the Russian writers could have won the Nobel, but never received it, in the RT material.

Secret bonus

It is known that the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded annually since 1901. A special committee selects candidates, and then, with the help of experts, literary scholars and laureates of past years, a winner is selected.

However, thanks to archival finds at Uppsala University, it became known that the literature prize could have been awarded in the 19th century. Most likely, it was established by Alfred Nobel's grandfather, Emmanuel Nobel Sr., who at the end of the 18th century, in correspondence with friends, discussed the idea of establishing an international literary prize.

The list of prize winners found at a Swedish university also includes the names of Russian writers: Thaddeus Bulgarin (1837), Vasily Zhukovsky (1839), Alexander Herzen (1867), Ivan Turgenev (1878) and Leo Tolstoy (1894). However, we still know little about the mechanism for selecting winners and other details of the award procedure. Therefore, let us turn to the official history of the prize, which began for Russia in 1902.

Lawyer and Tolstoy

Few people know, but the first person nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature was not a writer or poet, but a lawyer, Anatoly Koni. At the time of his nomination, in 1902, he was an honorary academician of the Academy of Sciences in the category of fine literature, as well as a senator in the general meeting of the First Department of the Senate. It is known that his candidacy was proposed by the head of the department of criminal law at the Military Law Academy, Anton Wulfert.

A more famous nominee is Leo Tolstoy. From 1902 to 1906, his candidacy was persistently proposed by the Nobel Committee. Leo Tolstoy by that time was already well known not only to the Russian but also to the world community for his novels. According to the expert community, Leo Tolstoy was “the most revered patriarch of modern literature.” In a letter that was sent to the writer from the Nobel Committee, the academicians called Tolstoy “the greatest and most profound writer.” The reason why the author of War and Peace never received an award is simple. Alfred Jensen, an expert on Slavic literature who acted as one of the advisers to the nomination committee, criticized Leo Tolstoy's philosophy, describing it as "subversive and contrary to the idealistic nature of the prize."

However, the writer was not particularly eager for the award and even wrote about this in a response letter to the committee: “I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me. This saved me from a great difficulty in disposing of this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil.”

Since 1906, after this letter, Leo Tolstoy was no longer nominated for the prize.

Leo Tolstoy in his office
RIA News

Merezhkovsky's calculation

In 1914, on the eve of the First World War, the poet and writer Dmitry Merezhkovsky was nominated for the Nobel Prize. The same Alfred Jensen noted the “artistic mastery of the image, the universal content and idealistic direction” of the poet’s work. In 1915, Merezhkovsky's candidacy was again proposed, this time by the Swedish writer Karl Melin, but again to no avail. But the First World War was going on, and only 15 years later Dmitry Merezhkovsky was again nominated for the award. His candidacy was nominated from 1930 to 1937, but the poet had to face serious competition: Ivan Bunin and Maxim Gorky were nominated along with him during the same period. However, the persistent interest of Sigurd Agrel, who nominated Merezhkovsky for seven years in a row, gave hope to the writer to be among the winners of the coveted award. Unlike Leo Tolstoy, Dmitry Merezhkovsky wanted to become a Nobel laureate. In 1933, Dmitry Merezhkovsky was closest to success. According to the memoirs of Ivan Bunin’s wife, Vera, Dmitry Merezhkovsky invited her husband to share the prize. Moreover, if he won, Merezhkovsky would give Bunin as much as 200 thousand francs. But that did not happen. Despite the fact that Merezhkovsky persistently wrote to the committee, convincing its members of his superiority over his competitors, he never received the award.

Gorky is more needed

Maxim Gorky was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 4 times: in 1918, 1923, 1928 and 1933. The writer’s work presented a certain difficulty for the Nobel Committee. Anton Karlgren, who replaced Alfred Jensen as an expert on Slavic studies, noted that in the post-revolutionary work of Gorky (meaning the revolution of 1905. - RT) there is “not the slightest echo of ardent love for the homeland” and that in general his books are a complete “sterile desert.” Earlier, in 1918, Alfred Jensen spoke of Gorky as a “double cultural-political personality” and “a tired, long-worn-out writer.” In 1928, Gorky was close to receiving the award. The main struggle was between him and the Norwegian writer Sigrid Undset. Anton Karlgren noted that Gorky’s work is like an “extraordinary renaissance” that provided the writer with a “leading place in Russian literature.”

Maxim Gorky, 1928
RIA News

The Soviet writer lost due to a devastating review by Heinrich Schük, who noted in Gorky’s work “the evolution from bad May Day rhetoric to direct discrediting of the authorities and agitation against it, and then to Bolshevik ideology.” The writer’s later works, according to Shyuk, deserve “absolutely damning criticism.” This became a powerful argument for conservative Swedish academics in favor of Sigrid Undset. In 1933, Maxim Gorky lost to Ivan Bunin, whose novel “The Life of Arsenyev” left no chance for anyone.

Marina Tsvetaeva was subsequently indignant that Gorky was not awarded the prize in 1933: “I’m not protesting, I just don’t agree, because Gorky is incomparably greater than Bunin: greater, and more humane, and more original, and more necessary. Gorky is an era, and Bunin is the end of an era. But - since this is politics, since the king of Sweden cannot pin orders on the communist Gorky...”

"Star" 1965

In 1965, four domestic writers were nominated for the prize: Vladimir Nabokov, Anna Akhmatova, Konstantin Paustovsky and Mikhail Sholokhov.

Vladimir Nabokov was nominated for the award several times in the 1960s for his acclaimed novel Lolita. A member of the Swedish Academy, Anders Österling, spoke of him as follows: “The author of the immoral and successful novel Lolita cannot under any circumstances be considered as a candidate for the prize.”

In 1964 he lost to Sartre, and in 1965 to his former compatriot (Nabokov emigrated from the USSR in 1922. - RT) Mikhail Sholokhov. After its 1965 nomination, the Nobel Committee called Lolita immoral. It is still unknown whether Nabokov was nominated after 1965, but we know that in 1972 Alexander Solzhenitsyn approached the Swedish committee with a request to reconsider the writer's candidacy.

Konstantin Paustovsky was eliminated at the preliminary stage, although Swedish academics spoke well of his “Tale of Life”. Anna Akhmatova competed with Mikhail Sholokhov in the final. Moreover, the Swedish committee proposed dividing the prize between them, arguing that “they write in the same language.” Andreas Esterling, a professor and long-term secretary of the Academy, noted that Anna Akhmatova’s poetry is full of “genuine inspiration.” Despite this, the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1965 was awarded to Mikhail Sholokhov, who was nominated for the seventh time.

King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden presents Mikhail Sholokhov with an honorary diploma and a Nobel laureate medal
RIA News

Aldanov and company

In addition to the above nominees, other, no less honored writers and poets were nominated from Russia at different times. For example, in 1923, Konstantin Balmont was nominated along with Maxim Gorky and Ivan Bunin. However, his candidacy was rejected unanimously by the experts as clearly unsuitable.

In 1926, Vladimir Frantsev, a Slavist and literary historian, nominated the white general Pyotr Krasnov for the literature prize. Twice, in 1931 and 1932, the writer Ivan Shmelev applied for the prize.

Since 1938, the writer and publicist Mark Aldanov has been competing for the award for a long time, becoming the record holder for the number of nominations - 12 times. The prose writer was popular among the Russian emigration in France and the USA. Over the years, he was nominated by Vladimir Nabokov and Alexander Kerensky. And Ivan Bunin, who became the prize winner in 1933, proposed Aldanov’s candidacy 9 times.

The philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev was nominated four times, the writer Leonid Leonov was nominated for the prize twice, the writer Boris Zaitsev and the author of the novel “The Fall of the Titan” Igor Guzenko, a Soviet defector cryptographer, were nominated once each.

Eduard Epstein

Try to remember which of the great Russian writers and poets was awarded the Nobel Prize? Sholokhov, of course, then Bunin, Pasternak, it seems, and this one, like him, whom, at first, they wanted to bury in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg - next to the emperors, and then, according to his will, they scattered his ashes over the canals in Naples , Well, what’s his name?.. Joseph Brodsky! What an amazing incident, isn't it?! A poet, practically unknown in Russia, not a single line of which was remembered by any of the almost forty (!) fellow journalists I interviewed, suddenly became the laureate of the most prestigious literary prize in the world.

However, why is it surprising? And do not rush to complain about the insufficient literary horizons of Volgograd journalists. There’s really nothing surprising about this award! All this is quite natural. Who now remembers the name of the first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, who received it in December 1901 - the French poet René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme. He is not known, and, I dare say, he has never been known even in his native France. And there are plenty of such, to put it mildly, dubious laureates among the Nobel laureates! But at the same time, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, Ibsen, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Leo Tolstoy lived and worked!

Of course, this simple thought was not the first to come to my mind. After the very first dubious award, public opinion in Sweden and other countries was shocked by the decision of the Nobel Academy. A month after the scandalous award, in January 1902, Leo Tolstoy received a protest address from a group of Swedish writers and artists:

“In view of the award of the Nobel Prize for the first time, we, the undersigned writers, artists and critics of Sweden, want to express our admiration to you. We see in you not only the highly revered patriarch of modern literature, but also one of those powerful, soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all, although you, in your personal judgment, never aspired to this kind of award. We feel the need to address you with this greeting all the more vividly because, in our opinion, the institution that was entrusted with the award of the literary prize does not, in its current composition, represent either the opinion of writers and artists or public opinion. Let them know abroad that even in our remote country, the main and most powerful art is considered to be that which rests on freedom of thought and creativity.” This letter was signed by more than forty prominent figures of Swedish literature and art.

On January 24, 1902, an article by the writer August Strindberg appeared in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stating in it that the majority of the Academy members “are unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature, who for some reason are called upon to administer justice, but these gentlemen’s concepts of art are so They are childishly naive that they call poetry only what is written in verse, preferably in rhyme. And if, for example, Tolstoy became forever famous as a depicter of human destinies, if he is the creator of historical frescoes, then he is not considered a poet by them on the grounds that he did not write poetry!

It would seem that this could be the end of the question?! But no! The whole story received an unexpected continuation.

In 1905, Tolstoy's new work, The Great Sin, was published. This now, unfortunately, almost forgotten, acutely journalistic book told about the difficult lot of the Russian peasantry. Now they don’t remember it also because in this work Tolstoy spoke out in the most categorical form, reasoned and extremely convincingly against private ownership of land. The Russian Academy of Sciences had a completely understandable idea to nominate Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. In a note compiled for this purpose by outstanding Russian scientists, academicians A.F. Koni, K.K. Arsenyev and N.P. The Kondakovs gave the highest praise to “War and Peace” and “Resurrection”. And in conclusion, on behalf of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, a wish was expressed to award Tolstoy the Nobel Prize.

As soon as he heard about such a great honor, Tolstoy wrote to the Finnish writer Arvid Ernefeld: “If this happened, I would be very unpleasant to refuse, and therefore I very much ask you, if you have - as I think - any connections in Sweden, try to make sure that I am not awarded this prize. Maybe you know one of the members, maybe you can write to the chairman, asking him not to disclose this, so that they don’t do it. I ask you to do what you can so that they do not award me a bonus and do not put me in a very unpleasant position - to refuse it.”

In fact, the Nobel Prize only partially reflects the true merits to humanity of a particular writer, scientist or politician. Remember my statistics: nine out of ten Nobel laureates in the field of literature were ordinary artisans from literature and did not leave any noticeable mark on it. And only about one or two out of these ten were truly brilliant. So why then were the others given bonuses and honors? In my opinion, only the presence of a genius gave the award to the rest of the very, very dubious company the illusion of authenticity and deservedness.

Apparently, in this most sophisticated way, the Nobel Committee tried and is trying to influence the literary and political preferences of society, the formation of its tastes, affections and, ultimately, neither more nor less, on the worldview of all mankind, on its future.

Remember with what enthusiastic aspiration we all say: So-and-so is a Nobel laureate!!! But the Nobel laureates were not only Zhores Alferov or, say, Pyotr Kapitsa Sr., but also the traitor Gorbachev, Solzhenitsyn, Sakharov - the destroyers and destroyers of our great country. It was for this merit that they became laureates of the Nobel banker prize. So money bags are trying to buy the very soul of the World. Apparently, the great Tolstoy understood this before all of us - he understood, and did not want his name to be used to endorse such a terrible idea.

Why was the Nobel Prize never awarded to Leo Tolstoy? Only for one simple reason. He wouldn't accept her. The old man disdained her!

Andrey CHERKASOV

PRAVDA.Ru