Die russischen Nobelpreisträger

Abstract

Five Russian writers have been awarded the Nobel Prize. They were chosen during a time when Russian Literature was split due to the Soviet policy since the 1917 seizure of power by Lenin. Literature published in the Soviet Union had been adjusted, often falsified, to different degrees. This literature was opposed by the free literature published abroad. The Nobel Prize committee chose as the first Russian Ivan Bunin, an emigrant, in 1933. The second one was Boris Pasternak in 1958. The Soviet government kept him from accepting the prize and oppressed him until his death. The third one, Mikhail Sholokhov, who received the prize in 1965, was a true Soviet writer and official. However, his authorship of the honored work, The Quiet Don, is doubted. The fourth one, Alexander Solshenithsyn, was not able to accept the prize in 1970, but after his emigration. The fifth Russian Nobel Prize winner was Iosif Brodsky in 1987. He had already been integrated as an emigrant in the USA by this time. The change in the Soviet attitude towards the emigrant started during this stage. All five Nobel Prize winners have played an important part in Russian Literature and thanks to the fall of communism those who were disdained during this time are nowadays highly valued in Russia as well.