1926 Nobel Prize in Literature

The 1926 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Italian author Grazia Deledda "for her idealistically inspired writings, which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general." She was the second Italian and second female Nobel laureate in literature.

Laureate
Grazia Deledda wrote a large collection of novels, short stories, articles, stage plays, and poems. After the publication of her first novel Fior de Sardegna ("The Flower of Sardinia") in 1891, which was followed by Elias Portolu in 1900, Deledda gained widespread recognition and praise around the world. Due to the old traditions with deep historical roots that formed Deledda's upbringing and the unfortunate outcomes of her family members, she developed a strong sense of destiny. Her works frequently deal with themes like uncontrollable forces, moral quandaries, passion, and human frailty. Among her oeuvres that earned her prominence in literature include Dopo il divorzio ("After the Divorce", 1902), L'edera ("Ivy", 1908), Canne al vento ("Reeds in the Wind", 1913), and La Fuga in Egitto ("The Flight into Egypt", 1925).

Nominations
Deledda was not nominated in 1926 but in 1927. She received 18 nominations in total beginning in 1913 with the recommendations of Luigi Luzzatti (1841–1927) and Ferdinando Martini (1840–1928). In 1927, she was nominated by academy member and literary historian Henrik Schück (1855–1947) after which she was eventually awarded.

In total, the Nobel Committee received 37 nominations for 29 authors including George Bernard Shaw (awarded for 1925), Thomas Hardy, Willem Kloos, Rudolf Maria Holzapfel and James George Frazer. Sixteen of the nominees were newly nominated such as Arnold Bennett, Paul Claudel, Avetis Aharonian, Sofía Casanova, Vicente Huidobro, Concha Espina de la Serna (with the highest number of nominations), Edvard Westermarck, Ada Negri, Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, Karl Kraus, J.-H. Rosny aîné, Johannes Jørgensen and Kostis Palamas. Four of the nominees were women: Sigrid Undset (awarded in 1928), Ada Negri, Concha Espina de la Serna, and Sofía Casanova.

The authors Gertrude Bell, René Boylesve, Ada Cambridge, Javier de Viana, Fran Detela, Lyubov Dostoevskaya, Sarah Doudney, Sigrid Elmblad, Ronald Firbank, Dmitry Furmanov, Juan Silvano Godoi, John Burland Harris-Burland, Rose Hawthorne, Ellen Key, Sidney Lee, Helena Nyblom, Karel Václav Rais, Jean Richepin, Rainer Maria Rilke, Albert Robida, Radu Rosetti, August Sedláček, Ågot Gjems Selmer and Carl Nicolai Starcke died in 1926 without having been nominated for the prize.

Prize decision
Deledda received her 1926 award one year later, in 1927. The Swedish Academy announced in November 1926 that no Nobel Prize in Literature would be awarded with the following explanation:""During the selection process in 1926, the Nobel Committee for Literature decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied.""