 Some decisions for awarding the prize have been controversial, a famous case being the decision to award the prize in 1919 to Marcel Proust; this was met with indignation, since many in the public felt that the prize should have gone to Roland Dorgelès for "Les Croix de bois", a novel about the First World War.The prize was supposed to be awarded to promising young authors, whereas Proust was not considered "young" at 48 – however Proust was a beginning author which is the only eligibility requirement, age being unimportant.In 1921, Rene Maran won the Goncourt with "Batouala, veritable roman negre", the first French novel to openly criticize European colonialism in Africa.