Master10
Awards & Honours Module

Nobel Prizes & Laureates

The Nobel Prizes were established through the 1895 will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite, and were first awarded in 1901 across five categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was added in 1968. Nobel Prizes in science and literature are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, whereas the Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo, Norway. Marie Curie became the first person to win two Nobel Prizes in different scientific fields (Physics in 1903, Chemistry in 1911). Prominent Indian and Indian-origin laureates include Rabindranath Tagore (Literature 1913, the first non-European laureate), C. V. Raman (Physics 1930), Mother Teresa (Peace 1979), Amartya Sen (Economics 1998), and Kailash Satyarthi (Peace 2014).

Key Concepts & Examination Highlights

  • Alfred Nobel established the prizes in his 1895 will; the first ceremonies took place in Stockholm and Oslo in 1901.
  • Marie Curie is the only individual to receive Nobel Prizes in two distinct scientific fields (Physics 1903, Chemistry 1911).
  • Rabindranath Tagore was the first Asian and non-European Nobel laureate, receiving the Literature prize in 1913 for Gitanjali.
  • The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, while all other prizes are awarded in Stockholm.
  • The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has won the Nobel Peace Prize a record three times (1917, 1944, 1963).
  • The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was instituted in 1968 and first awarded in 1969 to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen.
  • Har Gobind Khorana shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Marshall W. Nirenberg and Robert W. Holley for interpreting the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.
  • Jean-Paul Sartre declined the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature, and Le Duc Tho declined the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize.
  • The Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden, selects the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
  • Elinor Ostrom was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009 for her analysis of economic governance and common property resources.
  • Kailash Satyarthi shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people.
  • The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible for selecting the Nobel laureates in Physics and Chemistry as well as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences.
  • The Swedish Academy, founded by King Gustav III in 1786, selects the annual laureate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
  • Linus Pauling remains the only individual to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes: the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.
  • John Bardeen is the only individual to win two Nobel Prizes in Physics, first in 1956 for the transistor and second in 1972 for the BCS theory of superconductivity.
  • Frederick Sanger won two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, first in 1958 for the structure of insulin and second in 1980 for DNA sequencing methods.
  • K. Barry Sharpless won two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, first in 2001 for chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions and second in 2022 for click chemistry.
  • Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics with William A. Fowler for theoretical studies on the structure and evolution of stars.
  • Amartya Sen was awarded the 1998 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on welfare economics, social choice theory, and famine mechanisms.
  • Venkatraman Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.
  • Abhijit Banerjee shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.
  • The Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously unless the recipient dies between the announcement of the prize in October and the award ceremony on December 10.
  • Ralph Steinman was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine after the committee discovered he had passed away three days prior to the announcement without their knowledge.
  • The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has received the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981.
  • Sir William Henry Bragg and his son William Lawrence Bragg shared the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics for X-ray crystallography, making Lawrence Bragg the youngest physics laureate at age 25.
  • Alfred Nobel held 355 patents during his lifetime, with his most famous invention being dynamite, patented in 1867.
  • The Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
  • The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
  • The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.
  • The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee appointed by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) in Oslo.
  • The Nobel Prize diploma, gold medal (18-carat green gold plated with 24-carat gold), and cash prize are presented annually on December 10.
  • The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences was established in 1968 on the 300th anniversary of Sweden's central bank.
  • Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009 for her analysis of common-pool resource governance.
  • Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for advancing the understanding of women's labor market outcomes.
  • Narges Mohammadi received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned in Iran for her fight against women's oppression and for human rights.
  • Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for nucleoside base modifications enabling effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
  • Jon Fosse was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.
  • Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L'Huillier received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics for experimental methods generating attosecond pulses of light.
  • Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Alexei Ekimov were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.
  • Albert Einstein was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics, which he received in 1922, specifically for the law of the photoelectric effect.
  • Niels Bohr won the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics for his investigation of atomic structure and radiation emission.
  • Sir Alexander Fleming, Ernst Boris Chain, and Sir Howard Florey shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect.
  • Winston Churchill won the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as brilliant oratory.
  • Dag Hammarskjöld is the only individual awarded the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously in 1961 after dying in a plane crash while on a UN peace mission in the Congo.
  • The Nobel Foundation was established as a private institution in 1900 to manage the finances and administration of Alfred Nobel's estate.
  • Curie family members have won five Nobel Prizes: Marie Curie (two), Pierre Curie (one), Irène Joliot-Curie (one), and Frédéric Joliot-Curie (one).
  • The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016 for creating new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.
  • Gabriel García Márquez received the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature for his novels combining magical realism and Latin American political history.
  • Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk jointly received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for their work toward the peaceful termination of apartheid in South Africa.
  • The Nobel Prize medal for Peace was designed by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland.
Curriculum & Reference Sources: The Nobel Foundation Official Records, Nobel Media AB

Sample Solved Questions & Concept Explanations

8 Verified Concept Questions
Q1.EASY

In which year were the prestigious Nobel Prizes awarded for the first time in Stockholm and Oslo?

Q2.EASY

In which city is the Nobel Peace Prize presented annually?

Q3.EASY

Who was the first Indian to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979?

Q4.MEDIUM

Which Indian child rights activist shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize alongside Malala Yousafzai for campaigning against child exploitation?

Q5.MEDIUM

Who won the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory?

Q6.MEDIUM

Who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics (2009) for her analysis of economic governance and the commons?

Q7.MEDIUM

Who became the second Indian-origin economist to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019 alongside Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer?

Q8.MEDIUM

Which organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 1917, 1944, and 1963)?