Nobel Prize Recipient. Romain Rolland received recognition after being awarded the 1915 Nobel Prize in Literature, according to the Nobel Prize committee, 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." He received four nominations for the covet award in over a year's time. The 1915 Nobel Prize was presented in 1916. As a French novelist, dramatist, and essayist, an idealist, he was a lifelong, zealous pacifist, who fought against fascism, searched for world peace, and had the analysis of artistic genius. Politically, he was supporter of Josef Stalin, and known for his correspondence with Sigmund Freud until Freud's death. He submitted one of the 33 nominations to the Nobel Prize committee for Sigmund Freud, yet Freud never received the Nobel Prize. At the age of fourteen, he was admitted to École Normale Supérieure, lost his Christian faith, discovered the writings of the 17th century philosopher, Benedict de Spinoza. and the Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, and developed a passion for music. He majored in philosophy and history but received a Ph.D. in Art in 1895 with his thesis "The Origins of Modern Lyric Theater." His debut published piece was in 1888, "Amour d'enfants." Continuing his education, he went on a two-year mission to Italy at the École Française de Rome. At first, he wrote plays without much success. His debut was in 1897 with the five-acts play, "Saint-Louis." At this point, he to teach. After a couple positions by 1903, he was appointed to the first chair of music history at the Sorbonne in Paris, and later, he returned to Italy in 1911 to teach at the French Institute in Florence. After becoming tired of teaching art and music, he resigned his position and became focus on his writing. Considered his best work, he wrote his ten-volume "Jean-Christophe" between 1904 and 1912. Against World War I, he left his homeland for Switzerland. In 1915 he published his "Above the Battle," which was a plea for France and Germany to mend their differences during World War I; it is this piece that led him to received four nominations for the Nobel Prize. He also wrote "Journal of the War Years, 1914-1919," which gave more insight to earlier writings since it was published posthumously in 1952. He published biographies, such as "Beethoven" in 1903, "The Life of Michel Angelo" in 1905, "Handel" in 1910, and "Tolstoy" in 1911. A prolific author, his other writings included the 7-volume "The Enchanted Soul" from 1922 to 1933; "The Time Will Come," a drama in 1903; "The Triumph of Reason" in 1899; "The Age of Hate" in 1918; "Colas Breugnon" in 1919; "The Game of Love and Death," an opera in 1925; "Les Vaincus" in 1922; and "Péguy," which was published in 1945 posthumously. His last writing was published in 1945 posthumously, "Beethoven: The Interrupted Cathedral." He returned to France in 1937 at the dawn of World War II, dying there during the war. For his biography of Tolstoy, the USSR published a postage stamp in the honor of his 100th birthday in 1966.