The Prix Femina is a French

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ...

created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written in prose or verse, by both women and men. The winner is announced on the first Wednesday of November each year.

Prix Femina–Vie Heureuse

After the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in 1919 Librairie Hachette proposed to the allied countries to create a similar prize. Great Britain accepted, and the first meeting of its jury was held on 20 June 1920. The prize was called the Prix Femina–Vie Heureuse, and it was awarded to English writers, from 1920 to 1939. Among the winners were

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

in 1925 and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

in 1928. Similarly, in 1920 Lady Northcliffe, wife of Alfred Harmsworth, proposed to create a prize for French writers called the Northcliffe prize. Among the winners were

Joseph Kessel Joseph Kessel (10 February 1898 – 23 July 1979), also known as "Jef", was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. Biography Kessel was born to a Jewish family in ...

in 1924,

Julien Green Julien Green (September 6, 1900 – August 13, 1998) was an American writer who authored several novels (''The Dark Journey'', ''The Closed Garden'', ''Moira'', ''Each Man in His Darkness'', the ''Dixie'' trilogy, etc.), a four-volume autobiog ...

in 1928, and

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

in 1931. The last meeting of the jury for this prize was held on 10 April 1940, before the Nazis occupied France during World War II. The archives of the English Committee are held by Cambridge University Library.

Jury

, the jury of the Femina consists of eleven female members: *

Josyane Savigneau Josyane Savigneau is a journalist and writer for ''Le Monde'', born on 14 July 1951 in Châtellerault, France. Biography She became editor-in-chief of '' Le Monde des Livres'', editorial subdivision of ''Le Monde'' (2005). She has written ...

(president) * Evelyne Bloch-Dano * Claire Gallois * Anne-Marie Garat * Paula Jacques * Christine Jordis *

Mona Ozouf Mona Ozouf born Mona Annig Sohier (born 24 February 1931) is a French historian and philosopher. Born into a family of schoolteachers keen on preserving the language and culture of Brittany, she graduated as a teacher of philosophy from the Éco ...

Danièle Sallenave Danièle Sallenave (born 28 October 1940) is a French novelist and journalist. In April 2011, she became a member of the Académie française. In 1980 Sallenave received the Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot () ...

* Nathalie Azoulai *

Scholastique Mukasonga Scholastique Mukasonga (born 1956) is a French- Rwandan author born in the former Gikongoro province of Rwanda. In 2012, She won the prix Renaudot and the prix Ahmadou-Kourouma for her book '' Our Lady of the Nile.'' In addition to being a fi ...

* Patricia Reznikov

List of winners

There are currently four categories: ''Prix Femina'', ''Prix Femina essai'', ''Prix Femina étranger'' (foreign novels), and ''Prix Femina des lycéens''.

Prix Femina

Prix Femina étranger

Prix Femina essai

Prix Femina des lycéens

Femina–Vie Heureuse

The following awards were made during the lifetime of the award.

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline
Prix Femina
at Prix Litteraires website
National archive FEMINA VIE HEUREUSE PRIZE: ENGLISH COMMITTEE
archive of documents covering 1919 – 1940 Femina Awards established in 1904 1904 establishments in France