The 1939 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Finnish writer Frans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) "for his deep understanding of his country’s peasantry and the exquisite art with which he has portrayed their way of life and their relationship with Nature." He is the first and the only Finnish recipient of the prize.Frans Eemil Sillanpää
britannica.com

Laureate

Sillanpää made his literary debut with short stories published in newspaper ''

Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' (Finnish for ''The New Finland'') was a Finnish daily newspaper that was published from 1919 to 1991. The headquarters was in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Uusi Suomi'' was established in 1919 as a continuation of two ...

'' in Helsinki. His first novel, ''Elämä ja aurinko'' ("Life and Sun", 1916), garnered recognition for its audacious portrayal of adolescent love while also employing a Darwinian method of character observation. His artistic works frequently referenced people as elemental entities. The novel ''Hurskas kurjuus'' ("Meek Heritage", 1919), depicts the crofter Juha Toivola's life and terrible end, and the revolt of the Finns during their civil war is explained. Sillanpää authored 10 collections of short stories in addition to seven novels, among them ''Nuorena nukkunut'' ("The Maid Silja", 1931) and ''Ihmiset suviyössä'' ("People in the Summer Night", 1934).

Deliberations

Nominations

Sillanpää was nominated in 39 occasions since 1930. He received the highest number of nominations in 1938 with six nominations from literary critics and academics. In 1939, he received three nominations from a number of professors and members of

Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( sv, Åbo Akademi , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activiti ...

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

, and

Finnish Academy of Science and Letters The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Finnish ''Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia''; Latin ''Academia Scientiarum Fennica'') is a Finnish learned society. It was founded in 1908 and is thus the second oldest academy in Finland. The oldest is the Fi ...

. In total, the Nobel Committee of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

received 45 nominations. Ten of the nominees were newly elected such as Flávio de Carvalho, Herbert Samuel, Ethel Florence Richardson, Hugh Walpole, Johan Huizinga, Henriette Roland Holst,

Maria Dąbrowska Maria Dąbrowska (; born Maria Szumska; 6 October 1889 – 19 May 1965) was a Polish writer, novelist, essayist, journalist and playwright, author of the popular Polish historical novel ''Noce i dnie'' (Nights and Days) written between 1932 and 1 ...

, and

Hu Shih Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese libera ...

. The highest number of nominations was for the Danish author

Johannes Vilhelm Jensen Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (20 January 1873 – 25 November 1950) was a Danish author, known as one of the great Danish writers of the first half of 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 "for the rare strength and fert ...

, who was awarded in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

, with four nominations. Seven of the nominees were women namely

Maila Talvio Maila Talvio née Winter, married Mikkola (October 17, 1871, Hartola – January 6, 1951, Helsinki), was a Finnish writer. Talvio was a leading Finnish writer on the temperance question and several of her works were translated into Swedish and o ...

, Henriette Charasson,

Sally Salminen Sally Alina Ingeborg Salminen (25 April 1906 – 18 July 1976), from 1940 Salminen-Dührkop, was an internationally renowned author from Vargata, the Åland, Åland Islands, Finland. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature three times. ...

, Henriette Roland Holst, Ethel Florence Richardson, and Maria Madalena de Martel Patrício. The authors

Pedro Nolasco Cruz Vergara Pedro Nolasco Cruz Vergara (April 18, 1857 – November 11, 1939) was a Chilean literary critic, novelist, writer, and politician. Early life Pedro Nolasco Cruz Vergara was born in Molina, Maule Region in central Chile. He was the son of Nic ...

Ethel M. Dell Ethel May Dell Savage (2 August 1881 – 17 September 1939), known by her pen name, Ethel M. Dell, was a British writer of over 30 popular romance novels and several short stories from 1911 to 1939. Biography Dell was born on 2 August 1881 to a ...

, Havelock Ellis, Ford Madox Ford,

Ludwig Fulda Ludwig Anton Salomon Fulda (July 7, 1862 – March 7, 1939) was a German playwright and poet, with a strong social commitment. He lived with Moritz Moszkowski's first wife Henriette, née Chaminade, younger sister of pianist and composer Cécile ...

Agnes Giberne Agnes Giberne (19 November 1845 – 20 August 1939) was a prolific British novelist and scientific writer. Her fiction was typical of Victorian evangelical fiction with moral or religious themes for children. She also wrote books on science f ...

, Zane Grey,

Richard Halliburton Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – Declared death in absentia, presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writing, travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its hi ...

, Sidney Howard,

Kyōka Izumi , real name , was a Japanese people, Japanese author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays who was active during the Empire of Japan, prewar period. Kyōka's writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated the li ...

Okamoto Kanoko , born , was the pen-name of a Japanese author, tanka poet, and Buddhist scholar active during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. Early life Kanoko's maiden name was Ōnuki Kano. She was born in Aoyama, Akasaka-ku (present day Minat ...

Vladislav Khodasevich Vladislav Felitsianovich Khodasevich (russian: Владисла́в Фелициа́нович Ходасе́вич; 16 May 1886 – 14 June 1939) was an influential Russian poet and literary critic who presided over the Berlin circle of Russian e ...

Volter Kilpi Volter Kilpi, born Volter Ericsson, (December 12, 1874 – June 13, 1939) was a Finnish author best known for his two-volume novel '' Alastalon salissa'' (1933), often considered one of the best written in the Finnish language. Kilpi has been co ...

Antonio Machado Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...

Anton Makarenko Anton Semenovich Makarenko ( ua , Анто́н Семенович Мака́ренко, 13 January 1888 – 1 April 1939), a Ukrainian and Soviet educator, social worker and writer, became the most influential educational theorist in the ...

Leonard Merrick Leonard Merrick (21 February 1864 – 7 August 1939) was an English novelist. Although largely forgotten today, he was widely admired by his peers; J. M. Barrie called Merrick the "novelist's novelist." Life and work He was born as Leonard Mill ...

Llewelyn Powys Llewelyn Powys (13 August 1884 – 2 December 1939) was a British essayist, novelist and younger brother of John Cowper Powys and T. F. Powys. Family Powys was born in Dorchester, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), ...

, Amanda McKittrick Ros, Joseph Roth, Edward Sapir, Caton Theodorian,

Vũ Trọng Phụng Vũ Trọng Phụng (Hanoi, 20 October 1912 – Hanoi, 13 October 1939) was a popular Vietnamese author and journalist, who is considered to be one of the most influential figures of 20th century Vietnamese literature. Today, several of his works ...

Amy Catherine Walton Amy Catherine Walton (9 August 1849 – 5 July, 1939), born Amy Catherine Deck and better known as Mrs O. F. Walton, was an English author of Christian children's books, mainly but not exclusively fictional. She was the daughter of an Anglican ...

William Drake Westervelt William Drake Westervelt (December 26, 1849 – March 9, 1939) was the author of several books and magazines on Hawaiian history and legends. He drew upon the collections of David Malo, Samuel Kamakau, and Abraham Fornander to popularize Hawaiian f ...

, William Huntington Wright (''known as'' S. S. Van Dine), and Iris Guiver Wilkinson (''known as'' Robin Hyde) died in 1939 without having been nominated for the prize.

Prize decision

In 1939, the committee's shortlist consisted of Frans Eemil Sillanpää,

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

and Johan Huizinga. During the deliberations, Hesse, according to Committee chair

Per Hallström Per August Leonard Hallström (29 September 1866 – 18 February 1960) was a Swedish author, short-story writer, dramatist, poet and member of the Swedish Academy. He joined the academy in 1908, and served as its Permanent Secretary from 1931 ...

, was "a dignified and unconventional representative of hard-pressed but tenacious humanism." Hesse's status as a Swiss citizen was already confirmed at the time (as the wind of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was blowing across Europe), but Hallström felt his work wasn't idealistic. He opted instead for Huizinga or Sillanpää. The other Academy members were divided only between Huizinga and Hesse, with praises heaped on Huizinga's ''

The Waning of the Middle Ages ''The Autumn of the Middle Ages'', ''The Waning of the Middle Ages'', or ''Autumntide of the Middle Ages'' (published in 1919 as ''Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen'' and translated into English in 1924, German in 1924, and French in 1932), is the best ...

'' as one of the "finest historical records of our time." In the end, the committee came upon an agreement of awarding Sillanpää. According to critics, the decision was political as the Soviet Union invaded Finland few weeks before the Nobel committee's decision.Gustav Källstrand ''Andens Olympiska Spel: Nobelprisets historia'', Fri Tanke 2021

Aftermath

A few days after he received the prize, talks between Finland and Soviet Union broke down and the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

began. Sillanpää donated the golden medal to be melted for funds to aid the war effort.

References

External links

Award ceremony speech by Per Hallström
nobelprize.org
Frans Eemil Sillanpää – Documentary
nobelprize.org {{Nobel Prize in Literature

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...