Facts on the Nobel Prize in Literature: Σε μισή ώρα η ανακοίνωση για το νικητή του 2009

Δείτε ζωντανά την ανακοίνωση του νικητή για το βραβείο Νόμπελ Λογοτεχνίας 2009 (2μμ ώρα Ελλάδας), στην ιστοσελίδα nobelprize.org, απ' όπου και οι πληροφορίες που αναδημοσιεύω (ή κάντε κλικ στο τίτλο για να μεταφερθείτε εκεί ζωντανά):
Watch the live web cast from the Swedish Academy, Stockholm, Sweden, on Thursday, October 8, 1:00 p.m. CET, 11:00 a.m. GMT. Following the announcement, an interview will be held with Peter Englund, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, about the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature

Facts on the Nobel Prize (Literature)
On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes, the Nobel Prizes. As described in Nobel's will one part was dedicated to “the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”. Learn more about the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1901-2008. The 2009 Nobel Prize is not yet included.

Number of Nobel Prizes in Literature
101 Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded since 1901. It was not awarded on seven occasions: in 1914, 1918, 1935, 1940, 1941, 1942, and 1943.

Why were the Prizes not awarded in those years? In the statutes of the Nobel Foundation it says: "If none of the works under consideration is found to be of the importance indicated in the first paragraph, the prize money shall be reserved until the following year. If, even then, the prize cannot be awarded, the amount shall be added to the Foundation's restricted funds." During World War I and II, no Prizes were awarded.

Number of shared and unshared Nobel Prizes in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been shared between two individuals on four occasions only. This is a more common phenomenon within the other Prize areas.
1904 - Frédéric Mistral, José Echegaray
1917 - Karl Gjellerup, Henrik Pontoppidan
1966 - Shmuel Agnon, Nelly Sachs
1974 - Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson

Youngest Literature Laureate
To date, the youngest Literature Laureate is Rudyard Kipling, best known for The Jungle Book, who was 42 years old when he was awarded the Prize in 1907.

Oldest Literature Laureate
The oldest Nobel Laureate in Literature to date is Doris Lessing, who was 88 years old when she was awarded the Prize in 2007.

Women Nobel Laureates in Literature
11 women have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) was the first woman to be awarded in 1909. Selma Lagerlöf was awarded five years before she was elected to the Swedish Academy, the Nobel Prize-Awarding Institution responsible for selecting Nobel Laureates in Literature.
1909 - Selma Lagerlöf
1926 - Grazia Deledda
1928 - Sigrid Undset
1938 - Pearl Buck
1945 - Gabriela Mistral
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1991 - Nadine Gordimer
1993 - Toni Morrison
1996 - Wislawa Szymborska
2004 - Elfriede Jelinek
2007 - Doris Lessing


Two people have declined the Nobel Prize in Literature

Boris Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature, "Accepted first, later caused by the authorities of his country (Soviet Union) to decline the Prize".
Jean Paul Sartre, the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature, declined the Prize because he had consistently declined all official honours.

Posthumous Nobel Prizes in Literature
In 1931, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded posthumously to Erik Axel Karlfeldt. From 1974, the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation stipulate that a Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, unless death has occurred after the announcement of the Nobel Prize. Dag Hammarskjöld was also awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize in 1961.