The 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature was the second prestigious literary award based upon Alfred Nobel's will, which was given to German historian Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work A History of Rome."The Nobel Prize in Literature 1902 nobelprize.org
Laureate
Theodor Mommsen was a writer and expert both in history and law, and this combination was important for his research career. His Nobel Prize was motivated primarily by his pioneering three-volume work about Roman history, Römische Geschichte. It depicted different aspects of the Roman Republic's history: political, legal, economic, cultural and even geographical and meteorological. According to the Swedish Academy, his writing was "vivid and empathetic", and it was for these literary qualities that he was awarded the Nobel Prize.Theodor Mommsen nobelprize.org
A History of Rome
When Mommsen was awarded the prize, the world recognition was given him with "special reference" to the Römische Geschichte (the History of Rome).The Nobel Prize in Literature 1902 nobelprize.org The award came nearly fifty years after the first appearance of the work. The award also came during the last year of the author's life (1817–1903). It is the only time thus far that the Nobel Prize for Literature has been presented to a historian per se.Cf., Alexander Demandt, "Introduction" 1–35, at 1 (502 n.2), to Mommsen's A History of Rome under the Emperors (Munich 1992; London 1996). Demandt also mentions Winston Churchill. Yet the literary Nobel has since been awarded to a philosopher (1950) with mention of an "intellectual history",Bertrand Russell in 1950 received the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the award presentation his then recent work A History of Western Philosophy (1946) was mentioned first along with a few other books, 35 of his titles being referenced in all. and to a war-time leader (1953) for speeches and writings, including a "current events history",Winston Churchill was a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was selected in 1953 for his political oratory, his biographies, and his histories, e.g., his The Second World War (1948–1953). The later work, of course, he wrote in his role as a leading participant, and it was a collaborative effort. Later Churchill would write his History of the English Speaking Peoples (1956–1958). plus a Nobel Memorial Prize has been awarded for two "economic histories" (1993).The 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded concurrently to Robert W. Fogel and to Douglass North, both of whom separately wrote economic histories, each employing their discipline's analytic structures in order to better understand major events of the past. Nonetheless Mommsen's multi-volume History of Rome remains in a singular Nobel class.
The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a well-regarded reference yet nonetheless "a source unsparingly critical", summarizes: "Equally great as antiquary, jurist, political and social historian, Mommsen lived to see the time when among students of Roman history he had pupils, followers, critics, but no rivals. He combined the power of minute investigation with a singular faculty for bold generalization and the capacity for tracing out the effects of thought on political and social life."Encyclopædia Britannica, cited by Saunders and Collins, "Introduction" at 2, to Mommsen, History of Rome (1958). Cf., "Theodor Mommsen" in the 11th edition, published in 1911.
The British historian G. P. Gooch, writing in 1913, eleven years after Mommsen's Nobel prize, gives us this evaluation of his Römisches Geschichte: "Its sureness of touch, its many-sided knowledge, its throbbing vitality and the Venetian colouring of its portraits left an ineffaceable impression on every reader." "It was a work of genius and passion, the creation of a young man, and is as fresh and vital to-day as when it was written."G. P. Gooch, History and Historians (1913, 1928) at 456 and 458. About the History of Rome another British historian Arnold J. Toynbee in 1934 wrote, at the beginning of his own 12-volume universal history, "Mommsen wrote a great book, [Römisches Geschichte], which certainly will always be reckoned among the masterpieces of Western historical literature."Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History, volume one (Oxford University 1934, 2d ed. 1935, 1962) at I: 3.
Deliberations Nominations Mommsen had not been nominated for the prize in 1901, making it the first rare occasion when an author have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the same year they were first nominated.Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature nobelprize.org In total, the Swedish Academy received 44 nominations for 34 writers, including the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (four nominations), British philosopher Herbert Spencer (one nomination), and Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (one nomination).Nomination archive – 1902 nobelprize.org
The authors Philip James Bailey, Samuel Butler, Ethna Carbery, Mary Hartwell Catherwood, Francisco Javier de Burgos, Alice Marie Durand (known as Henry Gréville), Ernst Dümmler, Samuel Rawson Gardiner, Bret Harte, Annie French Hector, George Alfred Henty, Grace Hinsdale, Lionel Johnson, Heinrich Landesmann, William McGonagall, Ljubomir Nedić, Frank R. Stockton, Frank Norris, Masaoka Shiki, Gleb Uspensky, Jacint Verdaguer, Swami Vivekananda, and Mathilde Wesendonck died in 1902 without having been nominated for the prize.
Official list of nominees and their nominators for the prize No. Nominee Country Genre(s) Nominator(s)1Juhani Aho (1861–1921)()novel, short story2Marcel Barrière (1860–1954)novel, essaysÉmile Faguet (1847–1916)3Alexander Baumgartner (1841–1910)poetry, historyKnud Karl Krogh-Tonning (1842–1911)4Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910)poetry, novel, drama, short story5Bernard Bosanquet (1848–1923)philosophyWilliam Macneile Dixon (1866–1946)6Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907)poetry, literary criticism, biography, essays7Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927)philosophyWolfgang Golther (1863–1945)8José Echegaray Eizaguirre (1832–1916)drama12 members of the Royal Spanish Academy9Gustav Falke (1853–1916)novel, poetryAugust Sauer (1855–1926)10Antonio Fogazzaro (1842–1911)novel, poetry, short storyPer Geijer (1886–1976)11Arne Garborg (1851–1921)novel, poetry, drama, essaysKristian Birch-Reichenwald Aars (1868–1917)12Hartmann Grisar (1845–1932)history, theologyKnud Karl Krogh-Tonning (1842–1911)13Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946)drama, novel14Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)dramaAxel Erdmann (1873–1954)15Ferenc Kemény (1860–1944)()essaysGusztáv Heinrich (1845–1922)16Anatoly Koni (1844–1927)poetry, literary criticism, memoir, lawAnton Woulfert (1877–1927)17Ventura López Fernández (1866–1944)poetry, drama, literary criticismEmmanuel Casado Salas (–)18George Meredith (1828–1909)novel, poetry19Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)poetry, philology20Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903)history, law18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences21John Morley (1838–1923)biography, literary criticism, essaysAlice Stopford Green (1847–1929)22Lewis Morris (1833–1907)poetry, songwriting, essays23Gaspar Núñez de Arce (1832–1903)poetry, drama, law 24Gaston Paris (1839–1903)history, poetry, essaysFredrik Wulff (1845–1930)25Archibald Robertson (1853–1931)theology, historyJohn Wesley Hales (1836–1914)26Paul Sabatier (1858–1928)history, theology, biographyCarl Bildt (1850–1931)27Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916)()novelHans Hildebrand (1842–1913)28Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)philosophy, essays49 members of The Nobel Prize Committee of the Society of Authors29Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)novel, short story, drama, poetry30Charles Wagner (1852–1918)theology, philosophyWaldemar Rudin (1833–1921)31Carl Weitbrecht (1847–1904)history, poetry, short story, essaysHermann Fischer (1884–1936)32William Butler Yeatspoetry, drama, essaysWilliam Edward Lecky (1838–1903)33Theodor Zahn (1838–1933)theology, essaysLars Dahle (1843–1925)34Émile Zola (1839–1902)novel, drama, short storyMarcellin Berthelot (1827–1907)
Prize decision In 1902, the Nobel committee considered the authors Leo Tolstoy, Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson for the prize. Tolstoy was praised for his prominent literary work, but dismissed for his anarchistic ideology; Ibsen was dismissed for similar reasons, his radical style was considered completely against the ideal direction required by Alfred Nobel's will; while Bjørnson was pushed for the next year considering a shared prize with Ibsen. Because the Academy's permanent secretary Carl David af Wirsén was a fierce opponent of the idea of awarding Tolstoy and Ibsen, as a compromise, the historian Theodor Mommsen was launched as an alternative candidate that could be agreed upon.Gustav Källstrand Andens Olympiska Spel: Nobelprisets historia, Fri Tanke 2021, p. 186-187
Reactions The decision to award the second Nobel Prize in Literature to a non-fiction writer was criticised by some. While praising Mommsen's work in a 1902 article in Ord och Bild, the Swedish professor in Intellectual history Johan Bergman wrote: "It is and remain a flagrant injustice to not award this prize for the best literary work in ideal direction to one of the great idealists among the celebrated authors of our time, to Tolstoj or Björnson or Ibsen."Helmer Lång, Hundra nobelpris i litteratur 1901-2001, Symposion 2001, p.25 (in Swedish) Internationally, Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg were frequently mentioned as worthy candidates for the prize.
Notes
References
External links Award ceremony speech by C.D. af Wirsén nobelprize.org