1919
Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler - "in special appreciation of his epic, Olympian Spring"
Works in Knight Library

1918
No award was given

1917
Karl Adolph Gjellerup - "for his varied and rich poetry, which is inspired by lofty ideals"
Works in Knight Library

Henrik Pontoppidan - "for his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark"
Works in Knight Library

1916
Carl Gustaf Verner von Heidenstam - "in recognition of his significance as the leading representative of a new era in our literature"
Works in Knight Library

1915
Romain Rolland - "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings"
Works in Knight Library

1914
No award was given

1913
Rabindranath Tagore - "because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with comsummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West"
Works in Knight Library

1912
Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann - "primarily in recognition of his fruitful, varied and outstanding production in the realm of dramatic art"
Works in Knight Library

1911
Count Maurice (Mooris) Polidore Marie Bernhard Maeterlinck - "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations"
Works in Knight Library

1910
Paul Johann Ludwig Heyse - "as a tribute to the consummate artistry, permeated with idealism, which he has demonstrated during his long productive career as a lyric poet, dramatist, novelist and writer of world-renowned short stories"
Works in Knight Library

1909
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf - "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings"
Works in Knight Library

1908
Rudolf Christoph Eucken - "in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, and the warmth and strength in presentation with which in his numerous works he has vindicated and developed an idealistic philosophy of life"
Works in Knight Library

1907
Rudyard Kipling - "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author"
Works in Knight Library

1906
Giosuè Carducci - "not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces"
Works in Knight Library

1905
Henryk Sienkiewicz - "because of his outstanding merits as an epic writer"
Works in Knight Library

1904
Frédéric Mistral - "in recognition of the fresh originality and true inspiration of his poetic production, which faithfully reflects the natural scenery and native spirit of his people, and, in addition, his significant work as a Provençal philologist"
Works in Knight Library

José Echegaray Y Eizaguirre - "in recognition of the numerous and brilliant compositions which, in an individual and original manner, have revived the great traditions of the Spanish drama"
Works in Knight Library

1903
Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson - "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit"
Works in Knight Library

1902
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen - "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, A history of Rome"
Works in Knight Library

1901
Sully Prudhomme - "in special recognition of his poetic composition, which gives evidence of lofty idealism, artistic perfection and a rare combination of the qualitites of both heart and intellect"