1952 Nobel Prize in Literature

François Mauriac made his breakthrough with the poetry book Les Mains jointes ("Clasped Hands", 1909), but went on to become as a dramatist and novelist. His works are frequently set in and around Bordeaux, France, and investigate human nature through the lens of Catholicism. The characters struggle with money, self-righteousness, and guilt. As a result, Mauriac has been portrayed as a misanthrope at times, but he replied to this criticism by stating that the repeated messages in his writings about divine mercy and compassion were designed to inspire hope and confidence. His most well-known works include La Chair et le Sang ("Flesh and Blood", 1920), ''Le Désert de l'amour ("The Desert of Love", 1925), Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927), Le Nœud de vipères'' ("Vipers' Tangle", 1932). ==Deliberations==

Nominations In total, the Swedish Academy's Nobel Committee received 57 nominations for 40 writers. Fourteen of the nominees were newly nominated such as Paul Vialar, Juan Ramón Jiménez (awarded in 1956), Walter de la Mare, Julien Benda, Salvador de Madariaga, Albert Schweitzer (awarded the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize), Werner Bergengruen, and Van Wyck Brooks. Only one female author was nominate: Spanish author Concha Espina de la Serna. The English actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin was purportedly nominated in 1952, but is not included in the archives. The authors August Alle, Mariano Azuela, Ioan Alecu Bassarabescu, Margaret Wise Brown, Paul Bujor, Romain Coolus, Annie Sophie Cory, Norman Douglas, Paul Éluard, Jeffery Farnol, Gilbert Frankau, Cicely Hamilton, Aaro Hellaakoski, Masao Kume, Nadezhda Alexandrovna Lokhvitskaya (known as Teffi), Harold John Massingham, Charles Maurras, Ferenc Molnár, Maria Montessori, Pedro Prado, Josephine Tey, Lodewijk van Deyssel, Louis Verneuil, Clara Viebig, and Roger Vitrac died in 1952 without having been nominated for the prize. The Belgian writer Charles Plisnier died months before the announcement. ==Reactions==

The choice of Mauriac was well received: "the choice of the Royal Swedish Academy will be generally applauded", Émile Henriot of the Académie française stated in Le Monde. "The writer who is today the object of this consecration, which is equivalent to access to a sort of international and ideal Academy, is worthy of this flattering and appreciable distinction. It comes to reward a very fine literary talent, recognized among us even by those who do not agree on all points with the beliefs, the choices, the enmities of Mr. François Mauriac; and similarly recognized as representative and universally valid beyond our borders." ==Award ceremony speech==

At the award ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December 1952, Anders Österling, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, praised the artistic qualities of Mauriac's work and said: ==References==