Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are special awards given each year to honor people who have done great work for the good of humanity. They began in 1901, five years after the death of Alfred Nobel. He wanted to reward discoveries and actions that help all of us. The first Nobel Prizes were given in five areas: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace.

Later, in 1968, a sixth prize was added: the Prize in Economic Sciences. This was thanks to Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank. Each winner, called a laureate, gets a beautiful green gold medal covered in 24 karat gold, a special diploma, and a large amount of money. As of 2023, the money award was about US$1,035,000.

These prizes are given every year, except in special times like wars. No more than three people can share a prize together, but the Nobel Peace Prize can go to groups with more than three people. The Nobel Prizes are considered the highest honor in each of these fields. Many amazing scientists, writers, and peace workers have been recognized with them.

History

Alfred Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a chemist, engineer, and inventor. Nobel invented dynamite and made a lot of money from his inventions.

Nobel’s will, written in 1895, said his money should give prizes to people who help humanity the most. These prizes are for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. The Nobel Foundation was made to organize these prizes. The first Nobel Prizes were given in 1901.

Nobel Foundation

Main article: Nobel Foundation

The Nobel Foundation was started in 1900 to manage the money for the prizes. It uses the money to keep the prizes going. The foundation does not pick the winners.

Inaugural Nobel prizes

The first Nobel Prizes were given in 1901. The Physics Prize went to Wilhelm Röntgen for finding X-rays. The Chemistry Prize was given to Jacobus van 't Hoff for his work in chemical thermodynamics. The Literature Prize went to the poet Sully Prudhomme. The Physiology or Medicine Prize was given to Emil von Behring for making a treatment for diphtheria. The first Nobel Peace Prize was shared by Jean Henri Dunant, who helped start the International Red Cross Movement, and Frédéric Passy, a French peace activist.

Prize in Economic Sciences

Main article: Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

In 1968, Sweden’s central bank gave money to start a prize in economic sciences. The first Economics Prize was given in 1969 to Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch for their work in economic models.

Award process

The process for choosing Nobel Prize winners is similar for all the prizes. Each year, about 3,000 experts get forms to suggest possible winners. These names are kept secret for 50 years.

A group of experts helps each prize’s awarding institution choose the winners. The institutions include the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for Physics, Chemistry, and Economics, the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for Medicine, the Swedish Academy for Literature, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee for Peace. Each institution votes to pick up to three winners per prize. The winners are announced in October.

Sometimes, people who died just before the announcement still received the prize, but today winners must be alive when the prize is announced.

Award ceremonies and related events

Except for the Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are given out in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, on the same day. These ceremonies are big events, with special lectures and banquets. In Stockholm, the prizes are presented at the Stockholm Concert Hall, followed by a banquet at Stockholm City Hall. In Oslo, the Peace Prize is presented at Oslo City Hall.

After the ceremony in Sweden, there is a banquet at Stockholm City Hall for around 1,300 guests, including the Swedish Royal Family. The Peace Prize banquet in Norway is held at the Oslo Grand Hotel and includes about 250 guests, such as the president of the Storting and sometimes the King and Queen of Norway. Each Nobel winner must give a public lecture about their prize topic during Nobel Week or within six months of receiving the award.

Prizes

The Nobel Prizes are special awards given to people who have done great work to help others. The prizes started in 1901 and are given in five areas: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Each winner gets a medal, a diploma, and money.

The Nobel Prize medals all show a picture of Alfred Nobel, the man who started the prizes. The medals are made of gold and have different designs on the back for each prize. Winners also get a diploma from the King of Sweden, and a monetary award that changes each year.

Statistics

Some amazing facts about Nobel Prize winners include:

• The youngest Nobel Prize winner was Malala Yousafzai, who won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17.
• The oldest Nobel Prize winner was John B. Goodenough, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry at age 97.
• The United States has had the most Nobel laureates.

Some special winners include:

• Linus Pauling and Marie Skłodowska-Curie, each won Nobel Prizes in two different areas.
• Several married couples have both won Nobel Prizes.

Some years had no Nobel Prizes awarded in certain categories.

Specially distinguished laureates

Five people have won two Nobel Prizes. Marie Skłodowska-Curie is the only person to win in two different sciences. She won the Physics Prize in 1903 for her work on radioactivity and the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for isolating pure radium. John Bardeen won the Physics Prize twice, in 1956 for inventing the transistor and in 1972 for his work on superconductivity. Frederick Sanger won the Chemistry Prize twice, in 1958 and 1980, for his work on insulin and DNA.

Some families have many Nobel laureates. The Curie family is famous, with four prizes awarded to five family members. Besides Marie, her husband Pierre Curie and their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie also won Nobel Prizes. Other families, like the Moser family, also have multiple winners, showing how the Nobel Prize can be shared within families.

Reception and controversies

The Nobel Prizes have sometimes caused discussion. Some people think the committees might have political reasons or miss good candidates. There have been concerns about a European focus, especially for the Literature Prize.

One famous example was the Peace Prize given to Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ in 1973 for talking about peace in the Vietnam War. Some people felt Kissinger was not helping peace and had made the war bigger.

The Literature Prize has also had criticism. In 2004, a member of the Swedish Academy left because of the award to Elfriede Jelinek. In 2019, the award to Peter Handke had criticism.

In the sciences, the 1949 Physiology or Medicine Prize to António Egas Moniz for a medical method later caused concern.

Many feel some important people have not won, including Mahatma Gandhi, who was nominated five times but never won. The rule of giving the prize to no more than three people has also caused discussion.

Refusals and constraints

Two Nobel laureates chose not to accept their prizes. In 1964, writer Jean-Paul Sartre refused the Literature Prize because he felt it would change his work. In 1973, Lê Đức Thọ declined the Peace Prize because he thought there was still no peace in Vietnam.

Sometimes, governments have stopped people from accepting their prizes. For example, in 1958, Boris Pasternak was afraid to travel to receive his Literature Prize because of his government’s rules. Later, in 1989, his son accepted the prize for him.

Impact

Cultural

The Nobel Prize is a worldwide symbol of science and literature. It often appears in films and television shows. Some movies, like The Prize and The Wife, feature fictional Nobel laureates, while others tell stories about real prizes.

In 2008, a statue called the Planet of Alfred Nobel was unveiled at Alfred Nobel University in Dnipro, Ukraine. The statue shows reliefs of many Nobel laureates.