Émile was still years away from his first of two nominations for a Nobel prize in literature, of course, mainly because Nobel prizes wouldn't be invented until 1901. While Nobel HAD died in 1896, his family had contested the latest of his many wills - and once cleared, it took a while for the proper foundation to be formed. This work was largely done by Ragnar Sohlman, who was born in 1870, became Alfred Nobel's assistant in 1893, and who will absolutely not be appearing in this story.