The
Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor
Alfred Nobelwas a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes...
. It was first awarded in
PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Nobel Prize in literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
,
ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
,
Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded once a year by the Swedish Karolinska Institute. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine...
,
LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
, and
PeaceThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
in 1901. An associated prize, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was instituted by
Sweden's central bankSveriges Riksbank, or simply Riksbanken, is the central bank of Sweden and the world's oldest central bank. It is sometimes called the Swedish National Bank or the Bank of Sweden-History:...
in 1968 and first awarded in 1969. The Nobel Prizes in the specific disciplines (physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature) and the Prize in Economics, which is commonly identified with them, are widely regarded as the most prestigious award one can receive in those fields. The
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
conveys social prestige and
is often politically controversialThe Nobel Prize controversies are contentious disputes regarding the Nobel Prize.-The Prize:The Nobel Prizes are a series of awards which were posthumously instituted by bequest of Alfred Nobel . They are currently awarded to persons and organizations that have served humanity in the fields of...
.
Ceremony
With the exception of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economics are presented in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on the 10th of December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The recipients' lectures are presented in the days prior to the award ceremony. The Nobel Peace Prize and its recipients' lectures are presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in
Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, also on the 10th of December. The award ceremonies and the associated banquets are typically major international events.
It is unclear why Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Norway may have been better suited to awarding the prize as it did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden and that at the end of the nineteenth century the Norwegian parliament had become closely involved in the
Inter-Parliamentary UnionThe Inter-Parliamentary Union is an international organization established in 1889 by William Randal Cremer and Frédéric Passy . It was the first permanent forum for political multilateral negotiations...
's efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration.
Further, at the time the Nobel prizes were instituted, Norway and Sweden were joined together in a
unionA personal union is the combination by which two or more different states are governed by the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
known as the Swedish-Norwegian Union. It is possible Nobel felt that Norway deserved a share of awarding the prize honors.
Alfred Nobel's will
Five Nobel Prizes were instituted by the final will of
Alfred Nobelwas a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes...
, a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
chemist and industrialist, who was the inventor of the high explosive
dynamiteDynamite is an explosive material based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth or another absorbent substance such as sawdust as an absorbent...
. Though Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime, the last was written a little over a year before he died, and signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 27 November 1895. Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million Swedish Kroner, to establish and endow the five Nobel Prizes. (As of 2008 that equates to 186 million US dollars.)
Although Nobel's will established the prizes, his plan was incomplete and, due to various other hurdles, it took five years before the
Nobel FoundationThe Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite...
could be established and the first prizes awarded on 10 December 1901. As of December 31, 2007, the assets controlled by the Nobel Foundation amounted to 3.628 billion Swedish
kroner (approx. $560 million US Dollars)
Nomination and selection
Compared with some other prizes, the Prize nomination and selection process is long and rigorous. This is a key reason why the Prizes have grown in importance over the years to become the most important prizes in their field.
The Nobel laureates are selected by their respective
Nobel CommitteeA Nobel Committee is the working body responsible for the most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize....
s. For the Prizes in Physics, Chemistry and Economics, a committee consists of five members elected by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; for the Prize in Literature, a committee of four to five members of the
Swedish AcademyThe Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
; for the Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the committee consists of five members selected by The Nobel Assembly, which consists of 50 members elected by
Karolinska InstitutetKarolinska Institutet is one of Europe's largest medical universities...
; for the Peace Prize, the
Norwegian Nobel CommitteeThe Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year. Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
consists of five members elected by the Norwegian
StortingThe Parliament of Norway is located in the capital city Oslo. It sits in the Parliament of Norway Building which was completed in 1866 and was designed by the Swedish architect Emil Victor Langlet.- History :...
(the Norwegian parliament). In its first stage, several thousand people are asked to nominate candidates. These names are scrutinized and discussed by experts in their specific disciplines until only the winners remain. This slow and thorough process is arguably what gives the prize its importance. Despite this, there have been questionable awards and questionable omissions over the prize's century-long history.
Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to about three thousand selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations. For the peace prize, inquiries are sent to such people as governments of states, members of
international courtInternational courts are formed by treaties between nations, or under the authority of an international organization such as the United Nations — this includes ad hoc tribunals and permanent institutions, but excludes any courts arising purely under national authority.Early examples of...
s, professors and rectors at university level, former Peace Prize laureates, current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, among others. The Norwegian Nobel Committee then bases its assessment on nominations sent in before 3 February. The submission deadline for nominations for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Economics is 31 January. Self-nominations and nominations of deceased people are disqualified.
The names of the nominees are never publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the Prize. Nomination records are sealed for 50 years. In practice, some nominees do become known. It is also common for publicists to make such a claim, founded or not.
After the deadline has passed, the nominations are screened by committee, and a list is produced of approximately 200 preliminary candidates. This list is forwarded to selected experts in the relevant field. They remove all but approximately 15 names. The committee submits a report with recommendations to the appropriate institution. The Assembly for the Physiology or Medicine Prize, for example, has 50 members. The institution members then select prize winners by vote.
The selection process varies slightly between the different disciplines. The Literature Prize is rarely awarded to more than one person per year, whereas other Prizes now often involve collaborators of two or three.
While posthumous nominations are not permitted, awards can occur if the individual died in the months between the nomination and the decision of the prize committee. The scenario has occurred twice: the 1931 Literature Prize of
Erik Axel KarlfeldtErik Axel Karlfeldt was a Swedish poet whose highly symbolist poetry masquerading as regionalism was popular and won him the Nobel Prize in Literature posthumously in 1931; he had refused it in 1918....
, and the 1961 Peace Prize to UN Secretary General
Dag HammarskjöldDag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat and author and was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations. He served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously....
. As of 1974, laureates must be alive at the time of the October announcement. There has been one laureate—
William VickreyWilliam Spencer Vickrey was a Canadian professor of economics and Nobel Laureate. Vickrey was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with James Mirrlees for their research into the economic theory of incentives under asymmetric information...
(1996, Economics)—who died after the prize was announced but before it could be presented.
Recognition time lag
Nobel's will provides for prizes to be awarded in recognition for discoveries made "during the preceding year", and for the first years of the awards, the discoveries recognized were recent. However, some awards were made for discoveries that were later discredited. Taking the discrediting of a recognized discovery as an embarrassment, the awards committees began to recognize scientific discoveries that had withstood the test of time, but which occured well before the one-year time frame specified in Nobel's will.
The interval between the accomplishment of the achievement being recognized and the awarding of the Nobel Prize for it varies from discipline to discipline. The prizes in Literature are typically awarded to recognize a cumulative lifetime body of work rather than a single achievement. In this case the notion of "lag" does not directly apply. The prizes in Peace, on the other hand, are often awarded within a few years of the events they recognize. For instance,
Kofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan, Honorary GCMG is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 1 January 2007. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.-Early years and family:Kofi Annan was born in the...
was awarded the 2001 Peace Prize just four years after becoming the Secretary-General of the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
. U.S. President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
was nominated by the February 1, 2009 deadline, and then elected for the award just 8 months into his administration. The case has been criticized in that future events are yet to be recognized, as the prize was awarded on hope that Obama would yet deliver concrete peace dividends. Siv Jensen, leader of Norway's main opposition party the Progress Party, has stated that "It is just too soon... It is wrong to give him the peace prize for his ambition. You should receive it for results."
Awards in the scientific disciplines of physics, chemistry, and medicine require that the significance of achievements being recognized is "tested by time." In practice it means that the lag between the discovery and the award is typically on the order of 20 years and can be even longer. For example,
Subrahmanyan ChandrasekharSubrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, FRS , ) was an Indian American astrophysicist. He was a Nobel laureate in physics along with William Alfred Fowler for their work in the theoretical structure and evolution of stars. He was the nephew of Indian Nobel Laureate Sir C. V...
shared the 1983
Nobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Nobel Prize in literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
for his work on stellar structure and evolution from the 1930s. Not all scientists live long enough for their work to be recognized. Some important scientific discoveries are never considered for a Prize if the discoverers have died by the time the impact of their work is realized.
Award ceremonies
The committees and institutions serving as the selection boards for the Nobel Prizes typically announce the names of the laureates in October, with the Prizes awarded at formal ceremonies held annually on 10 December, the anniversary of
Alfred Nobelwas a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes...
's death. These Prize ceremonies are held at the
Stockholm Concert HallThe Stockholm Concert Hall is the main hall for orchestral music in Stockholm, Sweden. Designed by Ivar Tengbom and inaugurated in 1926, it is the home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also where the awarding ceremony for the Nobel Prizes are held annually. The blue building...
, with the Nobel Banquet following immediately at
Stockholm City HallStockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm in Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as...
.
The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony has been held at the
Norwegian Nobel InstituteThe Norwegian Nobel Institute was established in 1904 in Kristiania , Norway.The principal duty of the Nobel Institute is to assist the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the task of selecting the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and to organize the annual Nobel event in Oslo.The institute is situated...
(1905–1946); at the
AulaIn modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within an office building and usually located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
of the
University of OsloThe University of Oslo is the oldest, largest and most prestigious university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.It was founded in 1811 as The Royal Frederick University...
(1947–1990); and most recently at the
Oslo City HallThe Oslo City Hall houses the City Council, city administration, and art studios and galleries. The construction started in 1931, but was paused by the outbreak of World War II, before the official inauguration in 1950. Its characteristic architecture, artworks and the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony...
.
A maximum of three laureates and two different works may be selected per award. Each award can be given to a maximum of three recipients per year. Each "Nobel Prize Award" consists of a gold medal, a diploma, and a monetary grant:
The grant is currently 10 million
SEKThe krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. It is locally abbreviated kr. The plural form is kronor and one krona is subdivided into 100 öre . The currency is sometimes informally referred to as the "Swedish crown" in English...
, slightly more than
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
1.4 million.
If there are two winners in a particular category, the award grant is divided equally between the recipients. If there are three, the awarding committee has the option of dividing the grant equally, or awarding one-half to one recipient and one-quarter to each of the others. It is not uncommon for recipients to donate prize money to benefit scientific, cultural or humanitarian causes.
Since 1902, the
King of SwedenThe monarch is the head of state of the Kingdom of Sweden. Sweden, being a constitutional monarchy with a representative democracy based on a parliamentary system has a largely ceremonial monarch, though officially he or she holds the highest public office in Sweden and the highest military rank...
has, with the exception of the
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
, presented all the prizes in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
. At first
King Oscar IIOscar II , born Oscar Frederik was King of Norway from 1872 until 1905 and King of Sweden from 1872 until his death. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother.-Early life:At his birth in Stockholm, Oscar...
did not approve of awarding grand prizes to foreigners, but is said to have changed his mind once his attention had been drawn to the publicity value of the prizes for Sweden.
Until the
Norwegian Nobel CommitteeThe Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year. Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
was established in 1904, the President of Norwegian Parliament made the formal presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee's five members are entrusted with researching and adjudicating the Prize as well as awarding it. Although appointed by the
Norwegian ParliamentThe Parliament of Norway is located in the capital city Oslo. It sits in the Parliament of Norway Building which was completed in 1866 and was designed by the Swedish architect Emil Victor Langlet.- History :...
(
Stortinget), they are independent and answer to no legislative authority. Members of the Norwegian government are not permitted to sit on the Committee.
Nobel Banquet
After the award ceremony at the Concert Hall, around 1300 guests proceed to the
Stockholm City HallStockholm City Hall is the building of the Municipal Council for the City of Stockholm in Sweden. It stands on the eastern tip of Kungsholmen island, next to Riddarfjärden's northern shore and facing the islands of Riddarholmen and Södermalm. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as...
, where a banquet featuring a three course dinner, entertainment and dancing is held. The Royal Family of Sweden and the Nobel Prize Laureates are guests of honour. The banquet is extensively covered by Swedish and International media.
Previously, the Nobel Prizes ceremony was held in a ballroom in Stockholm's
Grand HotelGrand Hôtel is a five star hotel in Stockholm. It was founded by Frenchman Jean-François Régis Cadier in 1872 and opened on 14 June 1874. It opened at the same time as the Grand Hotel in Oslo and all Scandinavian capitals have a major Hotel called 'Grand Hotel'. Grand Hôtel is located next to the...
.
Nobel NightCap
Since 1978, sanctioned by the Nobel foundation, the student unions at four of Stockholm's institutions of higher learning:
Stockholm UniversityStockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 27,500 students at four faculties, being one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
,
Royal Institute of TechnologyThe Royal Institute of Technology is a university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH was founded in 1827 as Sweden's first polytechnic and is with TKK in Espoo, depending on definition, Scandinavia's largest institution of higher education in technology and one of the leading technical universities in...
,
Stockholm School of EconomicsThe Stockholm School of Economics or Handelshögskolan i Stockholm is one of Northern Europe's leading business schools. Its Masters in Management program is ranked no. 1 in Northern Europe and no. 12 in Europe...
and
Karolinska InstitutetKarolinska Institutet is one of Europe's largest medical universities...
, arrange a lavish
afterpartyAn afterparty, after-party, or after party is a gathering that occurs after a party, a music concert, a conference, a premiere or the closure of a nightclub. An afterparty may provide additional social opportunities for people who do not want to return to their respective homes...
on a rotating basis, to be held after the Nobel Banquet. Nobel NightCap is designed around a secret theme, unveiled at the eve of the party. The event is aimed at providing the Nobel Laureates and other guests with an opportunity to continue celebrations in a relaxed environment without media participation.
Nobel Prize medals
The Nobel Prize medals, which have been minted by
MyntverketMyntverket is a private Swedish company that produces coins and medals, most notably the Swedish national coins and the Nobel Prize medals. As of 2008, Swedish coins are now minted by Myntverket's parent company, Mint of Finland Ltd in Helsinki, Finland, ending a 1012 year history of minting...
in Sweden and the Mint of Norway since 1902, are registered trademarks of the
Nobel FoundationThe Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite...
. All of these medal designs feature an image of
Alfred Nobelwas a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes...
in left profile on the obverse (the face of the medal). Four of the five Nobel Prize medals (
PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Nobel Prize in literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
,
ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
,
Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded once a year by the Swedish Karolinska Institute. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine...
, and
LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
) feature the same design on the obverse (front sides). The reverse sides of the Nobel Prize medals for Chemistry and Physics share a design. Both sides of the
Nobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
Medal and the Medal for The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel are unique designs.
Due to their gold content and public display, Nobel medals are subject to
medal theftMedal theft is the theft of awards for military action, civil service, and achievements in science or sports. Medals and similar awards are stolen for resale, private collection or ransom; some are destroyed for gold bullion...
. During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the medals of German scientists
Max von LaueMax Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals. He was strongly opposed to National Socialism...
and
James FranckJames Franck was a German physicist and Nobel laureate .-Biography :Franck completed his Ph.D. in 1906 and received his venia legendi for physics in 1911, both at the University of Berlin, where he lectured and taught until 1918, having reached the position of extraordinarius professor...
were (illegally) sent to Copenhagen for safekeeping. When Germany invaded Denmark, chemist
George de HevesyGeorge Charles de Hevesy, Georg Karl von Hevesy, was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key role in the development of radioactive tracers to study chemical processes such as in the metabolism of animals.- Early years :Hevesy György was born in Budapest,...
dissolved them in
aqua regiaAqua regia or aqua regis is a highly corrosive, fuming yellow or red solution, also called nitro-hydrochloric acid. The mixture is formed by freshly mixing concentrated nitric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid, usually in a volumetric ratio of 1:3 respectively...
, to prevent confiscation by
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
and to prevent legal problems for the holders. After the war, the gold was recovered from solution, and the medals re-cast.
Controversies and criticisms
Since the first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901, the proceedings, nominations, awards and exclusions have generated criticism and engendered much controversy.
Overlooked achievements
Mahatma GandhiMohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times between 1937 and 1948 but never received the prize, being assassinated on 30 January 1948 two days before the closing date for the 1948 Peace Prize nominations. The Norwegian Nobel Committee had very likely planned to give him the Peace Prize in 1948 as they considered a posthumous award, but ultimately decided against it, and instead chose not to award the prize that year. A U.S.
philatelic exhibitionA Philatelic Exhibition is an exhibition of stamps and postal history where stamp collectors compete for medals. The displays are shown in glass frames, and the exhibition is normally accompanied by stamp dealer and post office stands where stamps may be purchased.Many philatelic exhibitions are...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
,
Chicagopex 2001, chose to honor the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize with a special show of commemorative
postal cachetsIn philately, a cachet is a printed or stamped design or inscription, other than a cancellation or pre-printed postage, on an envelope, postcard, or postal card to commemorate a postal or philatelic event. There are official and private cachets; they commemorate everything from the first flight on...
. One theme of the exhibition cast a shadow on the Nobel Peace Prize’s first century – the fact that the Peace Prize had not been awarded to Mahatma Gandhi.
The strict rules against a prize being awarded to more than three people at once is also a cause for controversy. Where a prize is awarded to recognise an achievement by a team of more than three collaborators, inevitably one or more will miss out. For example, in 2002, a Prize was awarded to
Koichi TanakaKoichi Tanaka is a Japanese scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2002 for developing a novel method for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules....
and John Fenn for the development of
mass spectrometryMass spectrometry is an analytical technique for the determination of the elemental composition of a sample or molecule. It is also used for elucidating the chemical structures of molecules, such as peptides and other chemical compounds...
in
protein chemistryProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
, an award that failed to recognise the achievements of Franz Hillenkamp and Michael Karas of the
Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the
University of FrankfurtThe Goethe University Frankfurt was founded in 1914 as a Citizens' University, which means that while it was a State university of Prussia, it had been founded and financed by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt am Main, a unique...
. Another well known miss was the Nobel Prize in Physics of 1965, that was awarded to
Richard P. FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as work in particle physics...
,
Julian S. SchwingerJulian Seymour Schwinger was an American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on the theory of quantum electrodynamics, in particular for developing a relativistically invariant perturbation theory, and for renormalizing QED to one loop order.Schwinger is recognized as one of the...
and
Sin-Itiro TomonagaSin-Itiro Tomonaga or Shin'ichirō Tomonaga was a Japanese physicist, influential in the development of quantum electrodynamics, work for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 along with Richard Feynman and Julian Schwinger.-Biography:Tomonaga was born in Tokyo in 1906...
but failed to recognize the contribution of
Freeman C. DysonFreeman John Dyson FRS is a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, and nuclear engineering. Dyson is a member of the Board of Sponsors of . Dyson lives in Princeton, New Jersey, as he has for over fifty...
, that demonstrated the equivalence of the formulations of
quantum electrodynamicsQuantum electrodynamics is a relativistic quantum field theory of electrodynamics. QED was developed by a number of physicists, beginning in the late 1920s. It basically describes how light and matter interact. More specifically it deals with the interactions between electrons, positrons and photons...
of the other three scientists.
Similarly, the prohibition of posthumous awards fails to recognise achievements by a collaborator who happens to die before the prize is awarded.
Rosalind FranklinRosalind Elsie Franklin was an English biophysicist, physicist, chemist, biologist and X-ray crystallographer who made contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite. Franklin is best known for her work on the X-ray diffraction images of...
, who was key in the discovery of the structure of
DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information...
in 1953, died of
ovarian cancerOvarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from different parts of the ovary.The most common form of ovarian cancer arises from the outer lining of the ovary.. However, recent evidence shows cells that line the Fallopian tube also to be prone to develop into the same kind of cancer as seen in...
in 1958, four years before
Francis CrickFrancis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS , was a British molecular biologist, physicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson. He, James D...
,
James D. WatsonJames Dewey Watson, born April 6, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois, is an American molecular biologist, best known as one of the two co-discoverers of the structure of DNA, with Francis Crick in 1953...
and
Maurice WilkinsMaurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS was an English molecular biologist, and Nobel Laureate who contributed research in the fields of phosphorescence, radar, isotope separation, and X-ray diffraction. He was most widely known for his work at King's College London on the structure of DNA...
(one of Franklin's collaborators) were awarded the Prize for Medicine or Physiology in 1962. Franklin's significant and relevant contribution was only briefly mentioned in Crick and Watson's now-famous paper: "We have also been stimulated by a knowledge of the general nature of the unpublished experimental results and ideas of Dr. M.H.F. Wilkins, Dr. R.E. Franklin, and co-workers....", but of course was highlighted in Franklin's own paper (with
Raymond GoslingRaymond Gosling is a distinguished scientist who worked with both Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin at King's College London in deducing the structure of DNA, under the direction of Sir John Randall. His other KCL colleagues included Alex Stokes and Herbert Wilson.-Early years:He was born in...
) which accompanied Watson and Crick's paper.
In some cases, awards have arguably omitted similar discoveries made earlier. For example, the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "the discovery and development of conductive organic polymers" (1977) ignored the much earlier discovery of highly-conductive
charge transfer complexA charge-transfer complex is a chemical association of two or more molecules, or of different parts of one very large molecule, in which the attraction between the molecules is created by an electronic transition into an excited electronic state, such that a fraction of electronic charge is...
polymers: the 1963 series of papers by Weiss,
et al. reported even higher conductivity in similarly iodine-doped oxidized polypyrrole.
Lack of a Nobel Prize in Mathematics
There is no Nobel Prize in
MathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
, which has led to considerable speculation about why
Alfred Nobelwas a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. He owned Bofors, a major armaments manufacturer, which he had redirected from its previous role as an iron and steel mill. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes...
omitted it. Some recipients of the Nobel Prize in other fields also have notable achievements in or have made outstanding contributions to mathematics; for example,
Bertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was an English philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. Although he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died.Russell led the British "revolt against idealism" in the...
was awarded the
Nobel Prize in LiteratureThe Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
(1950) and
Max BornMax Born was a German born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
and
Walther BotheWalther Wilhelm Georg Bothe was a German nuclear physicist.In 1913, he joined the newly created Laboratory for Radioactivity at the Reich Physical and Technical Institute , where he remained until 1930, the latter few years as the director of the laboratory...
shared the
Nobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Nobel Prize in literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
(1954). Some others with advanced credentials in mathematics and/or who are known primarily as mathematicians have been awarded the
Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelThe Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics , is an award for outstanding contributions to the science of economics and is generally considered one of the most prestigious awards for that science. The official name is the Sveriges Riksbank...
:
Kenneth ArrowKenneth Joseph Arrow is an American economist and joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with John Hicks in 1972. To date, he is the youngest person to receive this award, at 51....
(1972),
Leonid KantorovichLeonid Vitaliyevich Kantorovich was a Soviet/Russian mathematician and economist, known for his theory and development of techniques for the optimal allocation of resources. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1975 and the only winner of this prize from the USSR.Kantorovich...
(1975),
John Forbes NashJohn Forbes Nash Jr., Ph.D. is an American mathematician whose works in game theory, differential geometry, and partial differential equations have provided insight into the forces that govern chance and events inside complex systems in daily life...
(1994), Clive W. J. Granger (2003), Robert J. Aumann (who shared the 2005 Prize with Thomas C. Schelling), and
Roger MyersonRoger Bruce Myerson is an American economist and Nobel laureate recognized with Leonid Hurwicz and Eric Maskin for "having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory." A professor at the University of Chicago, He has made contributions as an economist, as an applied mathematician, and as a...
and
Eric MaskinEric Stark Maskin is an American economist and Nobel laureate recognized with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger Myerson "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory." He is the Albert O...
(2007).
Several prizes in mathematics have some similarities to the Nobel Prize. The
Fields MedalThe Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union, a meeting that takes place every four years. The Fields Medal is often viewed as the top honor a mathematician can receive. It...
is often described as the "Nobel Prize of mathematics", but it differs in being awarded only once every four years to people not older than forty years old. Other prestigious prizes in mathematics are the
Crafoord PrizeThe Crafoord Prize is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord...
, awarded by the
Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesThe Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademin is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2 June...
since 1982; the
Abel PrizeThe Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel . It has been often described as the "mathematician's Nobel" prize and is among the most prestigious...
which has also been called the "Nobel Prize of mathematics" and has been awarded by the Norwegian government annually, beginning in 2003; the
Wolf PrizeThe Wolf Prize in Mathematics is awarded almost annually by the Wolf Foundation. It is one of the six Wolf Prizes established by the Foundation and awarded since 1978; the others are in Agriculture, Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Arts...
awarded once a year by the
Wolf FoundationThe Wolf Foundation was established in 1975 by Dr. Ricardo Wolf, a German-born inventor and former Cuban ambassador to Israel.- Ricardo Wolf :...
; the
Shaw PrizeThe Shaw Prize, established by Sir Run Run Shaw , a leader in the media industry in Hong Kong and a long-time philanthropist, to honour "individuals, regardless of race, nationality and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application,...
in mathematical sciences awarded since 2004; and the Gauss Prize, granted jointly by the
International Mathematical UnionThe International Mathematical Union is an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of mathematics. It is a member of the International Council for Science and supports the International Congress of Mathematicians. Its members are national...
and the German Mathematical Society for "outstanding mathematical contributions that have found significant applications outside of mathematics," and introduced at the
International Congress of MathematiciansThe International Congress of Mathematicians is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union ....
in 2006. The Clay Mathematics Institute has devised seven "
Millennium ProblemsThe Millennium Prize Problems are seven problems in mathematics that were stated by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000. Currently, six of the problems remain unsolved. A correct solution to any of the problems results in a US$1,000,000 prize being awarded by the institute...
," whose solution results in a significant cash award: since it has a clear, predetermined objective for its award and since it can be awarded whenever a problem is solved, this prize also differs from the Nobel Prizes.
There is also no Nobel Prize in
computer scienceComputer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe and transform...
, which, as a discipline, historically grew out of mathematics. The
Turing AwardThe A. M. Turing Award is given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the computer field"...
of the
Association for Computing MachineryThe Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
is often called the "Nobel prize of computing."
Emphasis on discoveries over inventions
Alfred Nobel left a fortune to finance annual prizes to be awarded "to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind". One part, he stated, should be given "to the person who shall have made the most important
discovery or
invention within the field of physics". Nobel did not emphasize discoveries, but they have historically been held in higher respect by the Nobel prize committee than inventions: 77% of Nobel prizes in physics have been given to discoveries, compared with only 23% to inventions. Christoph Bartneck and Matthias Rauterberg in papers published in
NatureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
and Technoetic Arts, have argued this emphasis on discoveries has moved the Nobel prize away from its original intention of rewarding the greatest contribution to society in the preceding year.
Multiple laureates
Since the establishment of the Nobel Prize, four people have received two Nobel Prizes:
- Maria Skłodowska-Curie
Marie Skłodowska Curie was a physicist and chemist of Polish upbringing and, subsequently, French citizenship...
: in Physics 1903, for the discovery of radioactivity; and in Chemistry 1911, for the isolation of pure radiumRadium is a radioactive chemical element which has the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Its appearance is almost pure white, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, turning black. Radium is an alkaline earth metal that is found in trace amounts in uranium ores. It is extremely radioactive...
- Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists in any field of the 20th century. Pauling was among the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum...
: in Chemistry 1954, for his research into the nature of the chemical bondA chemical bond is an interaction between atoms or molecules and allows the formation of polyatomic chemical compounds. A chemical bond is the attraction caused by the electromagnetic force between opposing charges, either between electrons and nuclei, or as the result of a dipole attraction...
and its application to the elucidation of the structureA chemical structure includes molecular geometry, electronic structure and crystal structure of a chemical compound. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule and the chemical bonds that hold the atoms together...
of complex substances; and Peace 1962, for nuclear test-ban treaty activism; he is the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.
- John Bardeen
John Bardeen, Ph.D. was an American physicist and electrical engineer, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 with William Shockley and Walter Brattain for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 with Leon Neil Cooper and John Robert Schrieffer for a fundamental theory...
: in Physics 1956, for the invention of the transistorA transistor is a semiconductor device commonly used to amplify or switch electronic signals. A transistor is made of a solid piece of a semiconductor material, with at least three terminals for connection to an external circuit. A voltage or current applied to one pair of the transistor's...
; and Physics 1972, for the theory of superconductivitySuperconductivity is a phenomenon occurring in certain materials generally at very low temperatures, characterized by exactly zero electrical resistance and the exclusion of the interior magnetic field . It was discovered by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911. Like ferromagnetism and atomic spectral...
.
- Frederick Sanger
Frederick Sanger, OM, CH, CBE, FRS is an English biochemist and twice a Nobel laureate in chemistry. He is the fourth person to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes.- Early years :...
: in Chemistry 1958, for structure of the insulinInsulin is a hormone that has extensive effects on metabolism and other body functions, such as vascular compliance. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stopping use of fat as an energy...
molecule; and in Chemistry 1980, for virusA virus is an infectious agent too small to be seen directly with a light microscope. They are not made of cells and can only replicate inside the cells of another organism . Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
nucleotide sequencing.
As a group, the
International Committee of the Red CrossThe International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
(ICRC) has received the Nobel Peace Prize three times: in 1917, 1944, and 1963. The first two prizes were specifically in recognition of the group's work during the world wars, and the third was awarded at the year of its 100-Year Anniversary.
The
United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesThe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country...
(UNHCR) has won the Peace Prize twice: in 1954 and 1981.
Family laureates
A number of families have included multiple laureates.
- The Curie family claim the most Nobel Prizes, with five:
- Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911
- Her husband Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie was a French physicist, a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity and radioactivity, and Nobel laureate...
, Physics 1903
- Their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie
Irène Joliot-Curie was a French scientist, the daughter of Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. This made the Curies...
, Chemistry 1935
- Their son-in-law Frederic Joliot-Curie
Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie was a French physicist and Nobel laureate.-Early years:Born in Paris, France, he was a graduate of the School of Chemistry and Physics of the city of Paris. In 1925 he became an assistant to Marie Curie, at the Radium Institute...
, Chemistry 1935
- In addition, Henry Labouisse, the husband of the Curies' second daughter Ève
Ève Denise Curie Labouisse was a French-American author and writer. She was the second daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie and wrote an acclaimed biography of her mother, Madame Curie, in 1937...
, was the director of UNICEF when it won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965.
- Gunnar Myrdal
Karl Gunnar Myrdal was a Swedish economist, politician, and Nobel laureate. In 1974, with Friedrich Hayek, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for "pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of...
(Economics, 1974) and wife Alva MyrdalAlva Reimer Myrdal was a Swedish sociologist and politician. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. She married Gunnar Myrdal in 1924....
(Peace, 1982)
- J. J. Thomson
Sir Joseph John “J. J.” Thomson, OM, FRS was a British physicist and Nobel laureate, credited for the discovery of the electron and of isotopes, and the invention of the mass spectrometer...
, awarded the Nobel prize for Physics in 1906, was the father of George Paget ThomsonSir George Paget Thomson, FRS was an English physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognised for his discovery with Clinton Davisson of the wave properties of the electron by electron diffraction.-Biography:...
who was awarded the Nobel prize for Physics in 1937.
- William Henry Bragg
Sir William Henry Bragg OM, KBE was a British physicist and chemist who uniquely shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with his son, William Lawrence Bragg, in 1915.-Early years:...
shared the Nobel prize in Physics in 1915 with his son, William Lawrence BraggSir William Lawrence Bragg, CH, OBE, MC, FRS was an English physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 with his father Sir William Henry Bragg. He was the director of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge when the epochal discovery of the structure of DNA was made by James D...
.
- Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1922, and his son Aage Bohr won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1975.
- Manne Siegbahn
Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn was a Swedish physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his discoveries and research in the field of X-ray spectroscopy. He was born in Örebro, Sweden....
, who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1924, was the father of Kai SiegbahnKai Manne Börje Siegbahn was a Swedish physicist.He was born in Lund, Sweden, and his father Manne Siegbahn also won the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1924. Siegbahn earned his doctorate at the University of Stockholm in 1944...
who shared the Nobel prize in Physics in 1981.
- Hans von Euler-Chelpin
Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin was a German-born Swedish biochemist. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur Harden for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes.He was professor of general and organic chemistry at Stockholm University...
shared the Nobel prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Arthur HardenSir Arthur Harden was an English biochemist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1929 with Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin for their investigations into the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes....
. His son, Ulf von EulerUlf Svante von Euler was a Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist. He won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 for his work on neurotransmitters.-Life:...
, was awarded the Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970.
- C.V. Raman who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1930, was the uncle of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, FRS , ) was an Indian American astrophysicist. He was a Nobel laureate in physics along with William Alfred Fowler for their work in the theoretical structure and evolution of stars. He was the nephew of Indian Nobel Laureate Sir C. V...
who won the Nobel prize in Physics in 1983.
- Arthur Kornberg
Arthur Kornberg was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1959 for his discovery of "the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid " together with Dr. Severo Ochoa of New York University...
shared with Severo OchoaSevero Ochoa de Albornoz was a Spanish-American biochemist, and the recipient of the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.- Life :...
the 1959 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the mechanisms in the biological synthesis of ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid. Kornberg's son Roger won the 2006 Nobel prize in Chemistry for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription.
- Jan Tinbergen
Jan Tinbergen , Dutch economist, was awarded the first Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel during 1969, which he shared with Ragnar Frisch for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes...
, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1969, was the brother of Nikolaas TinbergenNikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen was a Dutch ethologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns in animals.In the 1960s he...
who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Konrad LorenzKonrad Zacharias Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, animal psychologist, ornithologist, and Nobel Prize winner. He is often regarded as one of the founders of modern ethology, developing an approach that began with an earlier generation, including his teacher Oskar Heinroth...
and Karl von FrischKarl Ritter von Frisch was an Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz....
.
Refusals and constraints
Two laureates voluntarily declined the Nobel Prize:
- Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy and Existentialism, and his work continues to influence further...
, who was awarded the Literature Nobel Prize in 1964
- Lê Đức Thọ, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
constrained three laureates not to accept the Nobel Prize; however, they were given their prizes after the end of the Second World War:
- Richard Kuhn
Richard Kuhn was an Austrian-German biochemist and Nobel laureate.-Early life:Kuhn was born in Vienna, Austria where he attended grammar school and high school. His interest in chemistry surfaced early; however he had many interests and decided late to study chemistry...
, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1938
- Adolf Butenandt
Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt was a German biochemist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his "work on sex hormones." He was initially forced by the Nazi government to decline the award, but accepted it in 1949 after World War II...
, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939
- Gerhard Domagk
Gerhard Johannes Paul Domagk was a German pathologist and bacteriologist credited with the discovery of Sulfonamidochrysoidine – the first commercially available antibacterial antibiotic – for which he received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.Domagk was born in Lagow,...
, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1939
The
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
government also constrained
Boris PasternakBoris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer. In the West he is best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago, a tragedy whose events span the last period of Tsarist Russia and the early days of the Soviet Union. It was first translated and published in Italy in 1957...
not to accept his Nobel Prize in Literature in 1958.
See also
- Ig Nobel Prize
The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think"...
- List of female Nobel laureates
- List of Nobel laureates
- List of Nobel laureates by country
- List of prizes, medals, and awards
- Millennium Technology Prize
The Millennium Technology Prize is the largest technology prize in the world. It is awarded once every two years by the Technology Academy Foundation, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership. The prize is presented by the President of Finland...
- Nobel Conference
The Nobel Conference is the first ongoing academic conference in the United States to have the official authorization of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. It is held annually at Gustavus Adolphus College in St...
- Nobel laureates by university affiliation
- Nobel laureates per capita
Laureates of the Nobel Prize listed by country per capita....
- Nobel Library
The Nobel Library is the public library of the Swedish academy instituted to assist the evaluation of Nobel laureates to the Prize in Literature and other awards granted by the academy...
- Nobel Museum
The Nobel Museum is a museum devoted to circulate information on the Nobel Prize, Nobel laureates from 1901 to present, and the life of the instituter Alfred Nobel...
- Nobel Peace Center
The Nobel Peace Center is a showcase for the Nobel Peace Prize and the ideals it represents. The Center is also an arena where culture and politics merge to promote involvement, debate and reflection around topics such as war, peace and conflict resolution.The Center presents the Nobel Peace Prize...
- Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year. Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
- Right Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award, established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, is an award that is presented annually, usually on 9 December, to honour those "working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today"...
, sometimes called the "Alternative Nobel Prize"
External links
- Nobel Prize Link to Baku's Oil
- "The Nobel Committees of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademin is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2 June...
". (EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
version; also accessible in SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
.)
- The Nobel Foundation – Official website of the Nobel Foundation
The Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite...
. (EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
index page; hyperlink to SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
site.)
- The Norwegian Nobel Committee – Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
official website. (EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
version; also accessible in NorwegianNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
.)
- "Prizes and Awards at Karolinska Institutet: The Nobel Prize" – Official webpage of the Karolinska Institute; (English
English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
version; also accessible in SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
.)
- The Swedish Academy – Official website. (English
English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
version; also accessible in SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
.)
- "Who Doesn't Have a Nobel Prize Nomination?"
- NobelPrizes.com, The Nobel Prize Internet Archive
- Almaz.com, The Nobel Prize Internet Archive