Literary critic Sergei Morozov spoke about the rationale for awarding Bunin the Nobel Prize

On November 9, 1933, Ivan Bunin learned that he had become the first Nobel Prize laureate in literature in Russian history. Known throughout the world, thoroughly translated into European languages, but poor and stateless, the classic represented the bygone Russian Empire at the ceremony in Stockholm. He represented a Russian person, a nobleman and a writer with dignity, said candidate of philological sciences Sergei Morozov, an employee of the Department of Contemporary Russian Literature and Literature of Russian Abroad at the Institute of Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

— Sergei Nikolaevich, Bunin himself believed that he received a “Nobel” for his novel “The Life of Arsenyev,” but this is not known for certain? There was also poetry and a whole body of Bunin prose.

— To answer, let’s remember the official wording from the Nobel diploma – it says that the prize was awarded “for the strict artistic skill with which he continued the Russian classical line in prose.” This is a literal translation by philologist Tatyana Marchenko from Swedish, that is, from the original. A double translation from French has often been published in the literature; in principle, it is almost the same, but this is the most accurate version.

Why is accuracy important? The Nobel Committee usually thinks about the formulation for a very long time and approaches it very carefully. As you can see, we are talking exclusively about prose here.

Bunin himself answered journalists that he was awarded for the totality of his works, but perhaps “The Life of Arsenyev” was celebrated in this way. I can confirm these words, because it was the main book, and the most recent one at that time.

— Wasn’t he transferred before the revolution?

– Very little – actually spotty. Bunin’s collections began to be published in French and English only in 1922. Since 1924, the first collections of the writer appeared in translation into Swedish, but there were few of them. Partly translations, but most importantly, the voluminous expert opinion of the Swedish Slavist A. Karlgren, presented to the Nobel Committee, apparently prompted a decision in favor of our compatriot.

But the point is not even in the translations, but in the powerful presentation of his candidacy by professors from around the world who have been joining the committee since 1921. This has happened every year since 1930.

— In 1933, did people in Europe understand what was happening in the USSR? Stalin’s repressions were widely known, and could political factors influence the committee?

– They understood perfectly well. And not only in the early 30s, but since the Civil War. Russian emigrants had much more information than people living in Soviet Russia. But even in the Union, until a certain point, communication channels were quite free, books were sent without problems – emigrants read Soviet works, Soviet readers could get acquainted with the works of emigration. “Mitya’s Love” was published in Moscow in 1926 as a separate edition.

I’m not even talking about personal correspondence!

And Bunin, of course, had complete information, since he was familiar with Pyotr Struve, Wrangel, Miliukov, Denikin. Naturally, politicians from around the world also had it.

But the political background could not in any way influence the choice of the Nobel Committee. I emphasize that, at least in those years, Swedish academics were very independent, and on the whole the committee protected this independence. All information was kept in the strictest confidence, and even the closest acquaintances could not find out anything.

Representatives of the Soviet side also could not influence the selection and promotion of candidates. The well-known female diplomat Alexandra Kollontai served as plenipotentiary representative in Sweden in the 1930s. She tried to press all the pedals and buttons, and threatened Stockholm with consequences on behalf of Moscow if the prize was awarded to Bunin.

But everything turned out the way it turned out – although in 1933 Maxim Gorky was Ivan Alekseevich’s competitor.

— On December 10, 1933, Bunin came to the award ceremony in the Swedish capital. Was his appearance in Stockholm as memorable as the subsequent gesture of Sholokhov, who pointedly did not bow to King Gustav Adolf VI?

— It must be said that it all started on November 9. On the evening of that day, Bunin learned about this award by telephone. Award days in different categories vary from year to year, and the ceremony strictly takes place on the day of Alfred Nobel’s death—December 10.

Ivan Alekseevich prepared for the upcoming event for a long time. In the days before receiving the prize, he was in complete poverty; his wife Vera Nikolaevna wrote that they had ink left on the bottom.

When Bunin arrived, all attention was turned to him. Everyone understood: he was the first Russian writer here. Secondly, he was an emigrant. Thirdly, for some it was considered some kind of exotic. But Bunin behaved with such dignity, read a bright short Nobel speech at the banquet… I don’t find any other epithet other than “worthy” – worthy of a Russian person, nobleman and writer.

No incidents happened, but there is an important detail. For the ceremony, the concert hall of the Music House is decorated with the flag of the country whose representative received the award.

But what was to be done with Bunin? Hanging the Soviet flag would be completely absurd – all his life he considered himself a subject of the Russian Empire. The only passport he had was an international Nansen passport (a supranational and supranational identity card issued to refugees at the level of the League of Nations – the then UN. – I.V.). He had no other citizenship. “Who am I? “I am an exile,” Bunin said in his speech.

As a result, it was decided to place only Swedish flags in the hall. Perhaps because of Bunin, perhaps due to the fact that 1933 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alfred Nobel.

But this was the only deviation in history from the strictly prescribed protocol of the Nobel Prize ceremony.