> E.g. why the Swedish academy instead of the Royal Society? Because a rich Swede endowed it over a century ago, and its had that time to build up prestige. I

> E.g. why the Swedish academy instead of the Royal Society? Because a rich Swede endowed it over a century ago, and its had that time to build up prestige. It's sort of like why Harvard is so prestigious: it was the first American University, its existed continuously, and has always ran itself like it was elite. > I think it is a bit strange how we fetisihize the Nobel above all others. My guess it's one of the oldest extant awards of its kind, if not the oldest. This scandal (and the hiatus) might allow a competitor to emerge as the most prestigious award in the field of literature, but I doubt such award will have the same popular awareness, because the Nobel's breadth helps a lot with it's fame.