Jean-Paul Charles Emard Sartre, 21 June 1905 Paris - 15 April 1980 Paris, is a philosopher, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, literary critic and French political activist.
Sartre is one of the most famous recipients of the Nobel Prize in the world, because he refused to receive it about fifty years ago.
On October 22, 1964, the French philosopher was eating at noon in a restaurant near his home in Paris, when he received a call to inform him that he had won the Nobel Prize. Sartre replied, "I reject the award, and I will keep my reasons behind it to tell the Swedish press."
The fact that he had received news of his selection by the committee in Stockholmen for the award did not cause him any surprise and had no emotion. But it caused a stir, especially in France, since Jean-Paul Sartre was the first to reject the Nobel Prize in the world.
But Sartre has just learned that the Nobel Prize Academy is not waiting for the candidate's opinion, so his refusal to change the prize does not change anything by becoming a Nobel laureate.
Thus, Jean-Paul Sartre is the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964, despite his refusal to attend the ceremony, and his refusal to attend the traditional ceremony on December 10 of the same year. 300 thousand euros.
Sartre's rejection of the award is not surprising. He has repeatedly announced his refusal to receive any of the prizes awarded by the French authorities, such as the Legion of Honor and others.
The French philosopher sent a lengthy text to the Swedish media justifying his decision and offering a kind of apology.
He had previously been sent to the Swedish Academy requesting that the prize not be awarded to someone who did not wish to do so. "I have received some news that I have been awarded the Nobel Prize today, and for special and objective reasons, I hope that I will not be on the list of candidates for the award, and I cannot and will not, now or in the future, accept this award," he wrote.
But this message changed nothing. Only the Swedish poet Axel Carlfeldt, who successfully persuaded the committee in 1919 to remove his name from the list of candidates, prevented him from receiving the Nobel Prize.He returned and won it after his death in 1931, when the award was still available.
Sartre's rejection of the award remains controversial. Some see it as evidence of his commitment to his principles, while others see it as an indication of self-esteem, citing, for example, philosopher and great writer Albert Camus accepting the same prize despite his positions and principles.
Sartre was afraid to be buried alive before he was on his way, he said.
Sartre died on April 15, 1980, at the age of 75 in a Prussian hospital in Paris after suffering from lung edema.