The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning for Literature, is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, "in the field of
In 1901, French poet and essayist Sully Prudhomme (1839–1907) was the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection, and a rare combination of the qualities of both heart and intellect."