Nobel Prizes & Renowned Laureates
The Nobel Prizes were established by the 1895 will of Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, and were first awarded in 1901 across Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established in 1968. Prominent historical laureates include Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel laureate (Literature, 1913), and Sir C.V. Raman, who received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the Raman Effect. The International Committee of the Red Cross is the most decorated organization, having received three Nobel Peace Prizes (1917, 1944, 1963), while Linus Pauling remains the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes.
Key Concepts & Examination Highlights
- The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901, the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in Stockholm and Oslo.
- Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European and first Indian to win a Nobel Prize when awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for Gitanjali.
- Sir C.V. Raman received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating the inelastic scattering of light, known as the Raman Effect.
- Linus Pauling is the only individual to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes: the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.
- John Bardeen remains the only scientist to win two Nobel Prizes in Physics, awarded in 1956 for the invention of the transistor and in 1972 for the BCS theory of superconductivity.
- Frederick Sanger and K. Barry Sharpless are the only laureates to win two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry (Sanger in 1958 and 1980; Sharpless in 2001 and 2022).
- Mother Teresa was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.
- Amartya Sen received the 1998 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory.
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics with William A. Fowler for theoretical studies on the physical processes of the structure and evolution of stars, including the Chandrasekhar limit ().
- Malala Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate at age 17, jointly receiving the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi.
- The Nobel Peace Prize is selected by a five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) and presented annually in Oslo City Hall.
- Henri Dunant, founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Frédéric Passy were the joint recipients of the inaugural Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
- Emil Adolf von Behring received the inaugural Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for his development of serum therapy against diphtheria.
- Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 for discovering the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions.
- Sully Prudhomme was awarded the inaugural Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 by the Swedish Academy.
- Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen shared the inaugural Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1969.
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.
- Har Gobind Khorana shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Marshall Nirenberg and Robert Holley for interpreting the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis.
- 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 Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.
- The Nobel Prize medallions are struck in 18-carat green gold plated with 24-carat gold, except the Peace Prize medal, which is struck in 18-carat green gold.
- Jean-Paul Sartre declined the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature, adhering to his principle of refusing all official distinctions and honours.
- Le Duc Tho declined the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly with Henry Kissinger, stating that peace had not yet been restored in Vietnam.
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) received the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981.
- Marie Curie and her husband Pierre Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Henri Becquerel, making Marie Curie the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
- Alfred Nobel signed his last will in November 1895 in Paris, bequeathing 94% of his total fortune to establish the five original Nobel Prizes.
- The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901, on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
- 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.
- Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European and first Asian Nobel laureate when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for Gitanjali.
- C.V. Raman was the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in any scientific discipline, receiving the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for the Raman Effect.
- Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.
- Amartya Sen received the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics, poverty indices, and famine theory.
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics with William A. Fowler for theoretical studies on the structure and evolution of stars.
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.
- Kailash Satyarthi shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai for their struggle against the suppression of children and youth and right to education.
- Albert Schweitzer was awarded the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of 'Reverence for Life' and humanitarian hospital work in Lambaréné, Gabon.
- Linus Pauling is the only individual to win two unshared Nobel Prizes: Chemistry in 1954 and Peace in 1962.
- John Bardeen is the only individual to have received two Nobel Prizes in Physics: for the transistor in 1956 and BCS superconductivity theory in 1972.
- Frederick Sanger won two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry: in 1958 for sequencing insulin and in 1980 for dideoxy DNA sequencing methods.
- Karl Barry Sharpless won two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry: in 2001 for chirally catalyzed oxidation and in 2022 for click chemistry and bioorthogonal reactions.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three times: in 1917, 1944, and 1963.
- Malala Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate in history when she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of 17.
- John B. Goodenough became the oldest person to receive a Nobel Prize when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 at the age of 97 for lithium-ion batteries.
- Jean-Paul Sartre declined the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, stating his principle of refusing official distinctions.
- Le Duc Tho declined the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize jointly awarded with Henry Kissinger, citing that peace had not yet been established in Vietnam.
- The Nobel Peace Prize is presented annually in Oslo, Norway, while all other five Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden.
- No Nobel Prize can be awarded posthumously unless the laureate's death occurs after the official prize announcement by the Nobel Committee.
- A Nobel Prize can be shared by a maximum of three individuals in any single category, but cannot be divided among more than three persons.
- Bertha von Suttner became the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905, having influenced Alfred Nobel to establish the peace category.
- Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (Physics 1903) and the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields.
Sample Solved Questions & Concept Explanations
8 Verified Concept QuestionsWhich legendary Italian scientist first turned a refracting telescope toward the night sky in 1609, discovering four moons of Jupiter and craters on the Moon?
Who published the revolutionary "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" in 1687, formulating the three laws of motion and universal gravitation?
Which Serbian-American electrical engineer invented the Alternating Current (AC) induction motor, polyphase AC power system, and Tesla coil?
Which British scientist discovered "Electromagnetic Induction" in 1831, inventing the transformer and the first electric dynamo generator?
Which ancient Greek mathematician and polymath invented the Archimedean screw pump, compound pulley system, and established the law of buoyancy in Syracuse?
Which Italian physicist invented the first chemical electric battery, the "Voltaic Pile", in 1800, producing a steady continuous electric current?
Which English polymath conceived and designed the "Difference Engine" and the mechanical general-purpose stored-program "Analytical Engine" in the 19th century?
Which Swedish naturalist created the binomial nomenclature system (Genus species) and modern taxonomic hierarchy in his 1735 work "Systema Naturae"?