The Pulitzer Jury recommended Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington for a Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1965, but the Board rejected their suggestion. Ellington won a posthumous Special Citation (not a Pulitzer Prize) in 1999 "in recognition of his musical genius, which evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture."
Duke Ellington won the Pulitzer Prize in 1965 for his outstanding musical composition, "For True, Not for False."
The Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board rejected the recommendation of their jury to award the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Music to Duke Ellington. They chose, instead, to withhold the prize that year. On hearing about the Board's decision, the 66-year-old Ellington allegedly commented, "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington received a posthumous Special Citation from the Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board in 1999. The citation read: "Bestowed posthumously, commemorating the centennial year of his birth, in recognition of his musical genius, which evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture."
The first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize was Of Thee I Sing, a political satire based on a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The play debuted in 1931 and won the Pulitzer in 1932. Although George Gershwin wrote the musical score, his name is not listed as one of the winners.
Duke Ellington did not get a Nobel Peace Prize,even though he was nominated.
The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher.
Gwendolyn Brooks won a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her collection, Annie Allen, in 1950.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940.
Carl Sagan never won a Pulitzer Prize. He was a renowned astronomer, astrophysicist, author, and science communicator, but he did not receive a Pulitzer Prize during his lifetime.
Education: Left high school in his senior year; later received honorary diploma.
Alice Coachman never won a Pulitzer Prize; she was an Olympic gold medalist in track in 1948.
2011
He became famous in 1926.
There are a number of award subcategories in the Pulitzer Prize Journalism category each year; ethnicity varies and is not a consideration for winning.