Which of the great Russian writers and poets was awarded the Nobel Prize? Mikhail Sholokhov, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky.

Joseph Brodsky, a practically unknown poet in Russia, suddenly became the winner of the most prestigious literary prize in the world. What an amazing case!

However, why is it surprising? At first, they wanted to bury Joseph Brodsky in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, next to the emperors, and then, according to his will, they scattered his ashes over the canals in Naples. So the award is quite natural.

Who now remembers the name of the first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, who received it in December 1901 - the French poet René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme. He is not known, and has never really been known, even in his native France.

And there are plenty of such, to put it mildly, dubious laureates among the Nobel laureates! But at the same time, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, Ibsen, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Leo Tolstoy lived and worked!

When you get acquainted with the long list of writers noted at various times by the Nobel Committee, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking that you have never heard four names out of every ten. And five of the remaining six are nothing special either. Their “star” works have long been forgotten. The thought naturally comes to mind: it turns out that the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded for some other merit? Judging by the life and work of the same Joseph Brodsky, then yes!

After the very first dubious award, public opinion in Sweden and other countries was shocked by the decision of the Nobel Academy. A month after the scandalous award, in January 1902, Leo Tolstoy received a protest address from a group of Swedish writers and artists:

“In view of the award of the Nobel Prize for the first time, we, the undersigned writers, artists and critics of Sweden, want to express our admiration to you. We see in you not only the highly revered patriarch of modern literature, but also one of those powerful, soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all, although you, in your personal judgment, never aspired to this kind of award. We feel the need to address you with this greeting all the more vividly because, in our opinion, the institution that was entrusted with the award of the literary prize does not, in its current composition, represent either the opinions of writers and artists or public opinion. Let them know abroad that even in our remote country, the main and most powerful art is considered to be that which rests on freedom of thought and creativity.” This letter was signed by more than forty prominent figures of Swedish literature and art.

Everyone knew: there is only one writer in the world worthy of being the first to receive the world's highest award. And this is the writer Leo Tolstoy. In addition, it was at the turn of the century that the writer’s new brilliant creation was published - the novel “Resurrection,” which Alexander Blok would later call “the testament of the outgoing century to the new.”

On January 24, 1902, an article by the writer August Strindberg appeared in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stating in it that the majority of the Academy members “are unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature, who for some reason are called upon to administer justice, but these gentlemen’s concepts of art are so They are childishly naive that they call poetry only what is written in verse, preferably in rhyme. And if, for example, Tolstoy became forever famous as a depicter of human destinies, if he is the creator of historical frescoes, then he is not considered a poet by them on the grounds that he did not write poetry!

Another judgment on this matter belongs to the famous Danish literary critic Georg Brandes: “Leo Tolstoy holds first place among modern writers. No one inspires such a sense of reverence as he does! We can say: no one but him inspires a feeling of reverence. When, at the first award of the Nobel Prize, it was given to a noble and subtle, but second-rate poet, all the best Swedish authors sent an address to Leo Tolstoy for their signatures, in which they protested against such an award of this distinction. It went without saying that it should have belonged to only one thing - the great writer of Russia, for whom they unanimously recognized the right to this prize.”

Numerous appeals and demands for the restoration of outraged justice forced Tolstoy himself to take up his pen: “Dear and respected brothers! I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me. Firstly, it saved me from a great difficulty - managing this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people, although unfamiliar to me, but still deeply respected by me. Please accept, dear brothers, my sincere gratitude and best feelings. Lev Tolstoy".

It would seem that this could be the end of the question?! But no! The whole story received an unexpected continuation.

In 1905, Tolstoy's new work, The Great Sin, was published. This, now almost forgotten, acutely journalistic book talked about the difficult lot of the Russian peasantry. Now they don’t remember it also because in this work Tolstoy spoke out in the most categorical form, reasoned and extremely convincingly against private ownership of land.

The Russian Academy of Sciences had a completely understandable idea to nominate Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. In a note compiled for this purpose by outstanding Russian scientists, academicians A.F. Koni, K.K. Arsenyev and N.P. The Kondakovs gave the highest praise to “War and Peace” and “Resurrection”. And in conclusion, on behalf of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, a wish was expressed to award Tolstoy the Nobel Prize.

This note was also approved by the Department of Fine Literature of the Academy of Sciences - there was such an organizational structure at the Academy at that time. On January 19, 1906, along with a copy of Tolstoy’s “The Great Sin,” the note was sent to Sweden.

As soon as he heard about such a great honor, Tolstoy wrote to the Finnish writer Arvid Ernefeld: “If this happened, I would be very unpleasant to refuse, and therefore I very much ask you, if you have - as I think - any connections in Sweden, try to make sure that I am not awarded this prize. Maybe you know one of the members, maybe you can write to the chairman, asking him not to disclose this, so that they don’t do it. I ask you to do what you can so that they do not award me a bonus and do not put me in a very unpleasant position - to refuse it.”

In fact, the Nobel Prize only partially reflects the true merits to humanity of a particular writer, scientist or politician. Nine out of ten Nobel laureates in the field of literature were ordinary artisans from literature and did not leave any noticeable mark on it. And only about one or two out of these ten were truly brilliant.

So why then were the others given bonuses and honors?

The presence of a genius among the awarded gave the award to the rest of the very, very dubious company the illusion of authenticity and deservedness. Apparently, in this most sophisticated way, the Nobel Committee tried and is trying to influence the literary and political preferences of society, the formation of its tastes, affections and, ultimately, neither more nor less, on the worldview of all mankind, on its future.

Remember with what enthusiastic aspiration the majority says: “So-and-so is a Nobel laureate!!!” But the Nobel laureates were not only geniuses who worked for the benefit of people, but also destructive individuals.

So the money bags, through the banker's Nobel Prize, are trying to buy the very soul of the World. Apparently, the great Tolstoy understood this before anyone else - he understood, and did not want his name to be used to endorse such a terrible idea.

Why was the Nobel Prize never awarded to Leo Tolstoy? Most likely, the old man disdained her!

Which of the great Russian writers and poets was awarded the Nobel Prize? Mikhail Sholokhov, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky.

Joseph Brodsky, a practically unknown poet in Russia, suddenly became the winner of the most prestigious literary prize in the world. What an amazing case!

However, why is it surprising? At first, they wanted to bury Joseph Brodsky in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, next to the emperors, and then, according to his will, they scattered his ashes over the canals in Naples. So the award is quite natural.

Who now remembers the name of the first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, who received it in December 1901 - the French poet René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme. He is not known, and has never really been known, even in his native France.

And there are plenty of such, to put it mildly, dubious laureates among the Nobel laureates! But at the same time, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, Ibsen, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Leo Tolstoy lived and worked!

When you get acquainted with the long list of writers noted at various times by the Nobel Committee, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking that you have never heard four names out of every ten. And five of the remaining six are nothing special either. Their “star” works have long been forgotten. The thought naturally comes to mind: it turns out that the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded for some other merit? Judging by the life and work of the same Joseph Brodsky, then yes!

After the very first dubious award, public opinion in Sweden and other countries was shocked by the decision of the Nobel Academy. A month after the scandalous award, in January 1902, Leo Tolstoy received a protest address from a group of Swedish writers and artists:

“In view of the award of the Nobel Prize for the first time, we, the undersigned writers, artists and critics of Sweden, want to express our admiration to you. We see in you not only the highly revered patriarch of modern literature, but also one of those powerful, soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all, although you, in your personal judgment, never aspired to this kind of award. We feel the need to address you with this greeting all the more vividly because, in our opinion, the institution that was entrusted with the award of the literary prize does not, in its current composition, represent either the opinions of writers and artists or public opinion. Let them know abroad that even in our remote country, the main and most powerful art is considered to be that which rests on freedom of thought and creativity.” This letter was signed by more than forty prominent figures of Swedish literature and art.

Everyone knew: there is only one writer in the world worthy of being the first to receive the world's highest award. And this is the writer Leo Tolstoy. In addition, it was at the turn of the century that the writer’s new brilliant creation was published - the novel “Resurrection,” which Alexander Blok would later call “the testament of the outgoing century to the new.”

On January 24, 1902, an article by the writer August Strindberg appeared in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stating in it that the majority of the Academy members “are unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature, who for some reason are called upon to administer justice, but these gentlemen’s concepts of art are so They are childishly naive that they call poetry only what is written in verse, preferably in rhyme. And if, for example, Tolstoy became forever famous as a depicter of human destinies, if he is the creator of historical frescoes, then he is not considered a poet by them on the grounds that he did not write poetry!

Another judgment on this matter belongs to the famous Danish literary critic Georg Brandes: “Leo Tolstoy holds first place among modern writers. No one inspires such a sense of reverence as he does! We can say: no one but him inspires a feeling of reverence. When, at the first award of the Nobel Prize, it was given to a noble and subtle, but second-rate poet, all the best Swedish authors sent an address to Leo Tolstoy for their signatures, in which they protested against such an award of this distinction. It went without saying that it should have belonged to only one thing - the great writer of Russia, for whom they unanimously recognized the right to this prize.”

Numerous appeals and demands for the restoration of outraged justice forced Tolstoy himself to take up his pen: “Dear and respected brothers! I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me. Firstly, it saved me from a great difficulty - managing this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people, although unfamiliar to me, but still deeply respected by me. Please accept, dear brothers, my sincere gratitude and best feelings. Lev Tolstoy".

It would seem that this could be the end of the question?! But no! The whole story received an unexpected continuation.

In 1905, Tolstoy's new work, The Great Sin, was published. This, now almost forgotten, acutely journalistic book talked about the difficult lot of the Russian peasantry. Now they don’t remember it also because in this work Tolstoy spoke out in the most categorical form, reasoned and extremely convincingly against private ownership of land.

The Russian Academy of Sciences had a completely understandable idea to nominate Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. In a note compiled for this purpose by outstanding Russian scientists, academicians A.F. Koni, K.K. Arsenyev and N.P. The Kondakovs gave the highest praise to “War and Peace” and “Resurrection”. And in conclusion, on behalf of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, a wish was expressed to award Tolstoy the Nobel Prize.

This note was also approved by the Department of Fine Literature of the Academy of Sciences - there was such an organizational structure at the Academy at that time. On January 19, 1906, along with a copy of Tolstoy’s “The Great Sin,” the note was sent to Sweden.

As soon as he heard about such a great honor, Tolstoy wrote to the Finnish writer Arvid Ernefeld: “If this happened, I would be very unpleasant to refuse, and therefore I very much ask you, if you have - as I think - any connections in Sweden, try to make sure that I am not awarded this prize. Maybe you know one of the members, maybe you can write to the chairman, asking him not to disclose this, so that they don’t do it. I ask you to do what you can so that they do not award me a bonus and do not put me in a very unpleasant position - to refuse it.”

In fact, the Nobel Prize only partially reflects the true merits to humanity of a particular writer, scientist or politician. Nine out of ten Nobel laureates in the field of literature were ordinary artisans from literature and did not leave any noticeable mark on it. And only about one or two out of these ten were truly brilliant.

So why then were the others given bonuses and honors?

The presence of a genius among the awarded gave the award to the rest of the very, very dubious company the illusion of authenticity and deservedness. Apparently, in this most sophisticated way, the Nobel Committee tried and is trying to influence the literary and political preferences of society, the formation of its tastes, affections and, ultimately, neither more nor less, on the worldview of all mankind, on its future.

Remember with what enthusiastic aspiration the majority says: “So-and-so is a Nobel laureate!!!” But the Nobel laureates were not only geniuses who worked for the benefit of people, but also destructive individuals.

So the money bags, through the banker's Nobel Prize, are trying to buy the very soul of the World. Apparently, the great Tolstoy understood this before anyone else - he understood, and did not want his name to be used to endorse such a terrible idea.

Why was the Nobel Prize never awarded to Leo Tolstoy? Most likely, the old man disdained her!

Vladimir Nabokov

The Nobel Prize in Literature is the most prestigious award, which has been awarded annually by the Nobel Foundation for achievements in the field of literature since 1901. A writer who has been awarded the prize appears in the eyes of millions of people as an incomparable talent or genius who, with his creativity, managed to win the hearts of readers from all over the world.

However, there are a number of famous writers who were bypassed by the Nobel Prize for various reasons, but they were no less worthy of it than their fellow laureates, and sometimes even more. Who are they?

LEV TOLSTOY

It is generally accepted that Leo Tolstoy himself refused the prize. In 1901, the first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French poet Sully-Prudhomme - although, it would seem, how can one bypass the author of Anna Karenina and War and Peace?

Realizing the awkwardness, Swedish academics shyly turned to Tolstoy, calling him “the deeply revered patriarch of modern literature” and “one of those powerful, soulful poets who in this case should be remembered first of all.” However, they wrote, the great writer himself “never aspired to this kind of reward.” Tolstoy thanked: “I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me,” he wrote. “This saved me from a great difficulty in disposing of this money, which, like all money, in my opinion, can only bring evil.”

49 Swedish writers, led by August Strindberg and Selma Lagerlöf, wrote a letter of protest to the Nobel academicians. The opinion of the Nobel Committee expert, Professor Alfred Jensen, remained behind the scenes: the philosophy of the late Tolstoy contradicts the will of Alfred Nobel, who dreamed of an “idealistic orientation” in his works. And “War and Peace” is completely “devoid of understanding of history.” The secretary of the Swedish Academy, Karl Wiersen, agreed with this:

“This writer condemned all forms of civilization and insisted in their place on adopting a primitive way of life, divorced from all the institutions of high culture.”

Whether Lev Nikolaevich heard about this or not, in 1906, anticipating another nomination, he asked the academicians to do everything so that he would not have to refuse the prestigious award. They happily agreed and Tolstoy never appeared on the list of Nobel laureates.

VLADIMIR NABOKOV

One of the contenders for the 1963 award was the famous writer Vladimir Nabokov, author of the acclaimed novel Lolita. This circumstance became a pleasant surprise for fans of the writer’s work.

The scandalous novel, the subject of which was unthinkable for that time, was published in 1955 by the Parisian publishing house Olympia Press. In the 60s, rumors repeatedly appeared about Vladimir Nabokov’s nomination for the Nobel Prize, but nothing was really clear. A little later it will become known that Nabokov will never receive the Nobel Prize for excessive immorality.

• Nabokov's candidacy was opposed by Anders Oesterling, a permanent member of the Swedish Academy. “Under no circumstances can the author of the immoral and successful novel Lolita be considered a candidate for the prize,” Oesterling wrote in 1963.

In 1972, prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn approached the Swedish committee with a recommendation to consider Nabokov's candidacy. Subsequently, the authors of many publications (in particular the London Times, The Guardian, New York Times) ranked Nabokov among those writers who were undeservedly not included in the lists of nominees.

The writer was nominated in 1974, but lost to two Swedish authors whom no one remembers now. But they turned out to be members of the Nobel Committee. One American critic wittily said: “Nabokov did not receive the Nobel Prize not because he did not deserve it, but because Nabokov did not deserve the Nobel Prize.”

MAKSIM GORKY

Since 1918, Maxim Gorky was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 5 times - in 1918, 1923, 1928, 1930 and finally in 1933.

But even in 1933, Nobel passed the writer by. Among the nominees that year, Bunin and Merezhkovsky were again with him. For Bunin, this was the fifth attempt to win the Nobel. She turned out to be successful, unlike the five-time nominees. The award was presented to Ivan Alekseevich Bunin with the wording “For the strict mastery with which he develops the traditions of Russian classical prose.”

Until the forties, the Russian emigration was concerned with doing everything so that the prize did not go to Gorky and the myth that there was no culture left on the territory of Russia without emigrants would collapse. Both Balmont and Shmelev were nominated as candidates, but Merezhkovsky was especially nervous. The fuss was accompanied by intrigue, Aldanov urged Bunin to agree to a “group” nomination, the three of them, Merezhkovsky persuaded Bunin to enter into an amicable agreement - whoever wins will divide the prize in half. Bunin did not agree, and he did the right thing - the fighter against the “coming boor” Merezhkovsky will soon be soiled by fraternization with Hitler and Mussolini.

And Bunin, by the way, gave part of the prize without any contracts to needy Russian writers (they still got into fights), part was lost in the war, but with the prize Bunin bought a radio receiver, on which he listened to reports of battles on the eastern front - he was worried.

However, it is a fact: even here the Swedish newspapers were perplexed. Gorky has much more merit to Russian and world literature; Bunin is known only to fellow writers and rare connoisseurs. And Marina Tsvetaeva was indignant, by the way, sincerely: “I don’t protest, I just don’t agree, because Gorky is incomparably greater than Bunin: greater, and more humane, and more original, and more necessary. Gorky is an era, and Bunin is the end of an era. But - since this is politics, since the king of Sweden cannot pin orders on the communist Gorky ... "

The angry opinions of experts remained behind the scenes. Having listened to them, back in 1918, academics considered that Gorky, nominated by Romain Rolland, was an anarchist and “without a doubt, in no way fits into the framework of the Nobel Prize.” The Dane H. Pontoppidan was preferred to Gorky (don’t remember who it is, and it doesn’t matter). In the 1930s, the academicians hesitated and came up with the idea that “he is collaborating with the Bolsheviks,” the award will be “misinterpreted.”

ANTON CHEKHOV

Anton Pavlovich, who died in 1904 (the prize has been awarded since 1901), most likely simply did not have time to receive it. By the day of his death, he was known in Russia, but not yet very well in the West. In addition, he is better known there as a playwright. More precisely, in general, he is known there only as a playwright. But the Nobel Committee does not favor playwrights.

…WHO ELSE?

In addition to the above-mentioned Russian writers, among the Russian nominees for the award in different years were Anatoly Koni, Konstantin Balmont, Pyotr Krasnov, Ivan Shmelev, Nikolai Berdyaev, Mark Aldanov, Leonid Leonov, Boris Zaitsev, Roman Yakobson and Evgeny Yevtushenko.

And how many geniuses of Russian literature were not even included in the list of nominees: Bulgakov, Akhmatova, Tsvetaeva, Mandelstam... Everyone can continue this brilliant series with the names of their favorite writers and poets.

Is it an accident that four out of five Russian writers who became Nobel laureates were in one way or another in conflict with the Soviet regime? Bunin and Brodsky were emigrants, Solzhenitsyn was a dissident, Pasternak received a prize for a novel published abroad. And Sholokhov, who was completely loyal to the Soviet regime, was given a Nobel “for the artistic strength and integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.”

• Is it any wonder that in 1955, even the notorious Soviet cryptographer-defector Igor Guzenko, who took up literature in the West, was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

And in 1970, the Nobel Committee had to prove for a long time that the prize was awarded to Alexander Solzhenitsyn not for political reasons, but “for the moral strength with which he followed the immutable traditions of Russian literature.” After all, by that time only eight years had passed since the writer’s first publication, and his main works “The Gulag Archipelago” and “The Red Wheel” had not yet been published.

This is how things are, brothers...

110 years ago, on October 8, 1906, the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature could have been the publicist and philosopher Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

But the 78-year-old writer became the first person to refuse the Nobel Prize since the Nobel Prize was founded in 1901.

the site tells how and why this happened.

The Russian Academy of Sciences nominated Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize in 1906, four years before his death. By that time, the writer had published almost all of his works, including “War and Peace,” “Anna Karenina,” “Resurrection,” “The Kreutzer Sonata,” as well as many stories, plays and articles.

Leo Tolstoy learned about the academy’s initiative and decided not to refuse the prize directly, but to write a letter to his friend, writer, and translator of his works into Finnish, Arvid Järnefelt.

Lev Nikolaevich asked his friend, with the help of colleagues from Sweden, to make sure that he was not awarded the Nobel Prize, since it would be very unpleasant for him to refuse it.

“Firstly, this saved me from great difficulty in disposing of this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people, although unknown to me, but still deeply respected by me,” wrote Leo Tolstoy.

Probably, the reason for the writer’s decision was his beliefs, because one of the principles of the religious and ethical movement - Tolstoyism - is simplification - a life not burdened with material values.

Arvid Järnefelt carried out his friend's instructions.

In 1906, the Italian poet Giosue Carducci received the prize for literature.

Which of the great Russian writers and poets was awarded the Nobel Prize? Mikhail Sholokhov, Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak and Joseph Brodsky.

Joseph Brodsky, a practically unknown poet in Russia, suddenly became the winner of the most prestigious literary prize in the world. What an amazing case!

However, why is it surprising? At first, they wanted to bury Joseph Brodsky in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, next to the emperors, and then, according to his will, they scattered his ashes over the canals in Naples. So the award is quite natural.

Who now remembers the name of the first Nobel Prize laureate in literature, who received it in December 1901 - the French poet René François Armand Sully-Prudhomme. He is not known, and has never really been known, even in his native France.

And there are plenty of such, to put it mildly, dubious laureates among the Nobel laureates! But at the same time, Mark Twain, Emile Zola, Ibsen, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde and, of course, Leo Tolstoy lived and worked!

When you get acquainted with the long list of writers noted at various times by the Nobel Committee, you involuntarily catch yourself thinking that you have never heard four names out of every ten. And five of the remaining six are nothing special either. Their “star” works have long been forgotten. The thought naturally comes to mind: it turns out that the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded for some other merit? Judging by the life and work of the same Joseph Brodsky, then yes!

After the very first dubious award, public opinion in Sweden and other countries was shocked by the decision of the Nobel Academy. A month after the scandalous award, in January 1902, Leo Tolstoy received a protest address from a group of Swedish writers and artists:

“In view of the award of the Nobel Prize for the first time, we, the undersigned writers, artists and critics of Sweden, want to express our admiration to you. We see in you not only the highly revered patriarch of modern literature, but also one of those powerful, soulful poets, who in this case should be remembered first of all, although you, in your personal judgment, never aspired to this kind of award. We feel the need to address you with this greeting all the more vividly because, in our opinion, the institution that was entrusted with the award of the literary prize does not, in its current composition, represent either the opinions of writers and artists or public opinion. Let them know abroad that even in our remote country, the main and most powerful art is considered to be that which rests on freedom of thought and creativity.” This letter was signed by more than forty prominent figures of Swedish literature and art.

Everyone knew: there is only one writer in the world worthy of being the first to receive the world's highest award. And this is the writer Leo Tolstoy. In addition, it was at the turn of the century that the writer’s new brilliant creation was published - the novel “Resurrection,” which Alexander Blok would later call “the testament of the outgoing century to the new.”

On January 24, 1902, an article by the writer August Strindberg appeared in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, stating in it that the majority of members of the Academy “are unscrupulous artisans and amateurs in literature, who for some reason are called upon to administer justice, but the concepts of these gentlemen about art are so They are childishly naive that they call poetry only what is written in verse, preferably in rhyme. And if, for example, Tolstoy became forever famous as a depicter of human destinies, if he is the creator of historical frescoes, then he is not considered a poet by them on the grounds that he did not write poetry!

Another judgment on this matter belongs to the famous Danish literary critic Georg Brandes: “Leo Tolstoy holds first place among modern writers. No one inspires such a sense of reverence as he does! We can say: no one but him inspires a feeling of reverence. When, at the first award of the Nobel Prize, it was given to a noble and subtle, but second-rate poet, all the best Swedish authors sent an address to Leo Tolstoy for their signatures, in which they protested against such an award of this distinction. It went without saying that it should have belonged to only one thing - the great writer of Russia, for whom they unanimously recognized the right to this prize.”

Numerous appeals and demands for the restoration of outraged justice forced Tolstoy himself to take up his pen: “Dear and respected brothers! I was very pleased that the Nobel Prize was not awarded to me. Firstly, it saved me from a great difficulty - managing this money, which, like any money, in my conviction, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people, although unfamiliar to me, but still deeply respected by me. Please accept, dear brothers, my sincere gratitude and best feelings. Lev Tolstoy".

It would seem that this could be the end of the question?! But no! The whole story received an unexpected continuation.

Having learned that the Russian Academy of Sciences nominated him as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Leo Tolstoy on October 7, 1906, in a letter to his friend, Finnish writer and translator Arvid Järnefelt, asked that the prize not be awarded to him. “If this happened, I would be very unpleasant to refuse,” wrote the author of War and Peace. Järnefelt complied with the request and the prize was awarded to the Italian poet Giosue Carducci. As a result, everyone was happy: both Carducci and Tolstoy. The latter wrote: “This saved me from great difficulty in disposing of this money, which, like any money, in my opinion, can only bring evil; and secondly, it gave me the honor and great pleasure to receive expressions of sympathy from so many people.” , although not familiar to me, but still deeply respected by me."

In 1905, Tolstoy's new work, The Great Sin, was published. This, now almost forgotten, acutely journalistic book talked about the difficult lot of the Russian peasantry. Now they don’t remember it also because in this work Tolstoy spoke out in the most categorical form, reasoned and extremely convincingly against private ownership of land.

The Russian Academy of Sciences had a completely understandable idea to nominate Leo Tolstoy for the Nobel Prize. In a note compiled for this purpose by outstanding Russian scientists, academicians A.F. Koni, K.K. Arsenyev and N.P. The Kondakovs gave the highest praise to “War and Peace” and “Resurrection”. And in conclusion, on behalf of the Russian Imperial Academy of Sciences, a wish was expressed to award Tolstoy the Nobel Prize.

This note was also approved by the Department of Fine Literature of the Academy of Sciences - there was such an organizational structure at the Academy at that time. On January 19, 1906, along with a copy of Tolstoy’s “The Great Sin,” the note was sent to Sweden.

As soon as he heard about such a great honor, Tolstoy wrote to the Finnish writer Arvid Ernefeld: “If this happened, it would be very unpleasant for me to refuse, and therefore I very much ask you, if you have - as I think - any connections in Sweden, try to make sure that I am not awarded this prize. Maybe you know one of the members, maybe you can write to the chairman, asking him not to disclose this, so that they don’t do it. I ask you to do what you can so that they do not award me a bonus and do not put me in a very unpleasant position - to refuse it.”

In fact, the Nobel Prize only partially reflects the true merits to humanity of a particular writer, scientist or politician. Nine out of ten Nobel laureates in the field of literature were ordinary artisans from literature and did not leave any noticeable mark on it. And only about one or two out of these ten were truly brilliant.

So why then were the others given bonuses and honors?

The presence of a genius among the awarded gave the award to the rest of the very, very dubious company the illusion of authenticity and deservedness. Apparently, in this most sophisticated way, the Nobel Committee tried and is trying to influence the literary and political preferences of society, the formation of its tastes, affections and, ultimately, neither more nor less, on the worldview of all mankind, on its future.

Remember with what enthusiastic aspiration the majority says: “So-and-so is a Nobel laureate!!!” But the Nobel laureates were not only geniuses who worked for the benefit of people, but also destructive individuals.

So the money bags, through the banker's Nobel Prize, are trying to buy the very soul of the World. Apparently, the great Tolstoy understood this before anyone else - he understood, and did not want his name to be used to endorse such a terrible idea.