Bertrand Russell is Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1950 was awarded to Bertrand Russell "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".

Source: "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1950". Nobelprize.org. 18 Aug 2010 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1950/index.html Added by: Colin Harris

An appointment from the Barnes Foundation near Philadelphia gave Russell an opportunity to write one of his most popular works, HISTORY OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY (1945). Its success permanently ended his financial difficulties and earned him the Nobel Prize. In 1944 Russell returned to Cambridge as a Fellow of his old college, Trinity.

Source: 'Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl (1872-1970)'; Petri Liukkonen, http://kirjasto.sci.fi/brussell.htm Added by: Colin Harris

This year's literature prize went to Earl Russell-Bertrand Russell, 78-year-old British philosopher, who last year astonished the world also by physical vigor, when, trapped in the cabin of a flying boat that crashed in Trondheim harbor, Norway, he swam ashore in a heavy overcoat and kept a lecture date.

Source: 'Faulkner Gets Nobel Prize; Bertrand Russell Is Honored'; George Axelson, New York Times, November 11, 1950. Added by: Colin Harris