Sixteen French Authors Who Have Won the Nobel Prize for Literature

The Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to more authors from France than to authors from any other country.

Who are these authors? 

(1) The first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1901, was from France, Sully Prudhomme, a poet.

(2) The fourth winner, in 1904, was Frédéric Mistral, a poet from Provence.

(3) In 1915, Romain Rolland, a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, and mystic, won.

(4) Anatole France won in 1921. He was the son of a bookseller who became a French poet, journalist, and librarian.

(5) In 1927, Henri Bergson, a French philosopher, won the prize.

(6) A French novelist, Roger Martin du Gard, was given the prize in 1937.

(7) André Gide was awarded the prize in 1947. He is known as a French writer of many different genres and styles.

(8) French novelist, journalist, critic, journalist, and poet François Mauriac was given the Nobel Prize in 1952.

(9) Albert Camus, a French philosopher, won the prize in 1957. He was only 44 when he was given the prize.

(10) French poet Saint-John Perse won in 1960.

(11) Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and playwright, was given the Nobel Prize in 1964.

(12) French novelist Claude Simon won the prize in 1985. 

(13) Gao Xingjian was born in China, but later became a naturalized citizen of France. He was a novelist and a playwright who won the Nobel Prize in 2000.

(14) Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, the French author of over forty works, was awarded the prize in 2008. 

(15) French novelist Patrick Modiano was given the prize in 2014.

(16) Annie Ernaux was the first French woman to win the prize. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2022 for her work, mostly autobiographical.

I have read the writings of three French Nobel Prize winners: Jean-Paul Sartre, No Exit; Patrick Modiano, In the Café of Lost Youth; and Annie Ernaux,  A Woman's Story. 

Which French authors do you know? 

Which ones have you read?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.