The obverse side of

the Nobel Prize

medals for Physics,
Chemistry, Physiology
or Medicine, and
The Nobel
Foundation
The reverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
awarded for both
Physics and
Chemistry.
The Nobel
Foundation
The reverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
for Physiology or
Medicine.
The Nobel
Foundation
The reverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
for Literature.
The Nobel
Foundation
Nobel Prize
any of the rizes !five in number until "#$#, when a
si%th was added& that are awarded annually from a
fund be'ueathed for that urose by the (wedish
inventor and industrialist )lfred *ernhard Nobel. The
Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most
restigious awards given for intellectual
achievement in the world. To browse Nobel Prize
winners alhabetically, chronologically, and by
rize, see below.
+n the will he drafted in ",#-, Nobel instructed that
most of his fortune be set aside as a fund for the
awarding of five annual rizes .to those who, during
the receding year, shall have conferred the
greatest benefit on man/ind.0 These rizes as
established by his will are the Nobel Prize for
Physics, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, the Nobel
Prize for Physiology or Medicine, the Nobel Prize for
Literature, and the Nobel Prize for Peace. The first
distribution of the rizes too/ lace on 1ecember "2,
"#2", the fifth anniversary of Nobel3s death. )n
additional award, the (veriges 4i/sban/ Prize in
5conomic (ciences in Memory of )lfred Nobel, was established in
"#$, by the *an/ of (weden and was first awarded in "#$#. )lthough
not technically a Nobel Prize, it is identified with the award6 its
winners are announced with the Nobel Prize reciients, and the
Prize in 5conomic (ciences is resented at the Nobel Prize )ward
Ceremony.
)fter Nobel3s death, the Nobel 7oundation was set u
to carry out the rovisions of his will and to
administer his funds. +n his will, he had stiulated
that four different institutions8three (wedish and
one Norwegian8should award the rizes. 7rom
(toc/holm, the 4oyal (wedish )cademy of (ciences
confers the rizes for hysics, chemistry, and
economics, the 9arolins/a +nstitute confers the rize
for hysiology or medicine, and the (wedish
)cademy confers the rize for literature. The
Norwegian Nobel Committee based in :slo confers
the rize for eace. The Nobel 7oundation is the
legal owner and functional administrator of the
funds and serves as the ;oint administrative body of
the rize<awarding institutions, but it is not
concerned with the rize deliberations or decisions,
which rest e%clusively with the four institutions.
The selection process
The restige of the Nobel Prize stems in art from the considerable
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The Nobel Prize
selection rocess.
Encyclopdia
Britannica, Inc.
The obverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
for Peace.
The Nobel
Foundation
research that goes into the selection of the rizewinners. )lthough
the winners are announced in :ctober and November, the selection
rocess begins in the early autumn of the receding year, when the
rize<awarding institutions invite more than $,222 individuals to
roose, or nominate, candidates for the rizes. (ome ",222 eole
submit nominations for each rize, and the number of nominees
usually ranges from "22 to about =-2. )mong those nominating are
Nobel laureates, members of the rize<awarding institutions
themselves6 scholars active in the fields of hysics, chemistry,
economics, and hysiology or medicine6 and officials and members
of diverse universities and learned academies. The resondents must
suly a written roosal that details their candidates3 worthiness.
(elf<nomination automatically dis'ualifies the nominee. Prize
roosals must be submitted to the Nobel Committees on or before
>anuary ?" of the award year.
:n 7ebruary " the si% Nobel Committees8one for
each rize category8start their wor/ on the
nominations received. :utside e%erts are
fre'uently consulted during the rocess in order to
hel the committees determine the originality and
significance of each nominee3s contribution. 1uring
(etember and early :ctober the Nobel Committees
have accomlished their wor/ and submit their
recommendations to the 4oyal (wedish )cademy of (ciences and the
other rize<awarding institutions. ) committee3s recommendation is
usually but not invariably followed. The deliberations and the voting
within these institutions are secret at all stages. The final decision
by the awarders must be made by November "-. Prizes may be given
only to individuals, e%cet the Peace Prize, which may also be
conferred uon an institution. )n individual may not be nominated
osthumously, but a winner who dies before receiving the rize may
be awarded it osthumously, as with 1ag @ammars/;Ald !for eace6
"#$"&, 5ri/ )%el 9arlfeldt !for literature6 "#?"&, and 4alh M.
(teinman !for hysiology or medicine6 =2""&. !(teinman was named a
winner several days after his death, which was unbe/nownst to the
Nobel )ssembly. +t was decided that he would remain a Nobel
laureate, since the urose of the osthumous rule was to revent
rizes being deliberately awarded to deceased individuals.& The
awards may not be aealed. :fficial suort, whether dilomatic or
olitical, for a certain candidate has no bearing on the award
rocess because the rize awarders, as such, are indeendent of the
state.
The prizes
5ach Nobel Prize consists of a gold medal, a diloma
bearing a citation, and a sum of money, the amount
of which deends on the income of the Nobel
7oundation. ) Nobel Prize is either given entirely to
one erson, divided e'ually between two ersons, or
shared by three ersons. +n the latter case, each of
the three ersons can receive a one<third share of
the rize or two together can receive a one<half
share. (ometimes a rize is withheld until the
following year6 if not then awarded, it is aid bac/
into the funds, which haens also when a rize is
neither awarded nor reserved. Two rizes in the same field8i.e., the
rize withheld from the revious year and the current year3s
rize8can thus be awarded in one year. +f a rize is declined or not
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The reverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
for Peace.
The Nobel
Foundation
The obverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
for 5conomics.
The Nobel
Foundation
The reverse side of
the Nobel Prize medal
for 5conomics.
The Nobel
Foundation
acceted before a set date, the rize money goes bac/ into the
funds. (ome rizes have been declined by their winners, and in
certain instances governments have refused to allow their citizens to
accet them. Those who win a rize are nevertheless entered into
the list of Nobel laureates with the remar/ .declined the rize.0
Motives for nonaccetance may vary, but most often the reason has
been e%ternal ressure6 for e%amle, in "#?B )dolf @itler forbade
Cermans in the future from acceting Nobel Prizes because he had
been infuriated by the award of the "#?- Peace Prize to the
anti<Nazi ;ournalist Carl von :ssietz/y, who at the time was a
olitical risoner in Cermany. +n some cases, the refuser later
e%lained the real reason behind the refusal and was granted the
Nobel gold medal and the diloma8but not the money, which
invariably reverts to the funds after a certain eriod of time.
Prizes are withheld or not awarded when no worthy
candidate in the meaning of Nobel3s will can be
found or when the world situation revents the
gathering of information re'uired to reach a
decision, as haened during Dorld Dars + and ++.
The rizes are oen to all, irresective of
nationality, race, creed, or ideology. They can be
awarded more than once to the same reciient. The
ceremonial resentations of the awards for hysics,
chemistry, hysiology or medicine, literature, and
economics ta/e lace in (toc/holm, and that for
eace ta/es lace in :slo on 1ecember "2, the anniversary of Nobel3s
death. The laureates usually receive their rizes in erson, and each
resents a lecture in connection with the award ceremonies.
The general rinciles governing awards were laid
down by )lfred Nobel in his will. +n "#22
sulementary rules of interretation and
administration were agreed uon between the
e%ecutors, reresentatives of the rize<awarding
institutions, and the Nobel family and were
confirmed by the /ing in council. These statutory
rules have on the whole remained unchanged but
have been somewhat modified in alication. 7or
e%amle, Nobel3s stiulation that the rizes be
awarded for achievements made during .the
receding year0 was obviously unwor/able in regard to scientists and
even writers, the true significance of whose discoveries, research, or
writings might not be generally aarent for several years. Nobel3s
ambiguous stiulation that the literature rize be awarded to the
authors of wor/s of an .idealistic tendency0 was interreted strictly
in the beginning but has gradually been interreted more fle%ibly.
The basis for the economics award was scientific8i.e., mathematical
or statistical, rather than olitical or social.
The Nobel Prizes for hysics, chemistry, and
hysiology or medicine have generally been the least
controversial, while those for literature and eace
have been, by their very nature, the most e%osed
to critical differences. The Peace Prize has been the
rize most fre'uently reserved or withheld.
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List of Nobel Prize winners
Nobelists by year
The table rovides a chronological list of Nobel Prize winners.
Nobelists by prize
Chemistry
The table rovides a chronological list of reciients of the Nobel
Prize for Chemistry.
Economics
The table rovides a chronological list of reciients of the Nobel
Prize for 5conomics.
Literature
The table rovides a chronological list of reciients of the Nobel
Prize for Literature.
Peace
The table rovides a chronological list of reciients of the Nobel
Prize for Peace.
Physics
The table rovides a chronological list of reciients of the Nobel
Prize for Physics.
Physiology or Medicine
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The table rovides a chronological list of reciients of the Nobel
Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
Additional Reading
(ociological studies of the rize, the imact on winners, and the
criteria utilized to nominate and evaluate candidates are among the
toics addressed in @arriet Euc/erman, Scientific Elite: Nobel aureates
in the !nited States !"#BB, reissued "##$&6 Carl Custaf *ernhard, 5lisabeth
Crawford, and Per (Arbom !eds.&, Science, Technolo"y, and Society in
the Ti#e of $lfred Nobel !"#,=&, which includes useful information
on the early history !to "#?2& of the rizes in hysics, chemistry, and
hysiology or medicine6 9;ell 5smar/, The Nobel %ri&e in iterature: $
Study of the 'riteria Behind the 'hoices !"##"6 originally ublished
in (wedish, "#,$&6 5lisabeth Crawford, Nationalis# and Internationalis#
in Science, ())*+(,-,: Four Studies of the Nobel %opulation !"##=&6
and 1enis *rian, .enius Tal/: 'on0ersations with Nobel Scientists and
1ther u#inaries !"##-&.
es %ri2 Nobel !annual& rints the Nobel Prize lectures, often in the
original language6 volumes in the series Nobel ectures, Includin"
%resentation Speeches and aureates3 Bio"raphies, with searate
sets of boo/s for each of the rize categories, translates the lectures
into 5nglish.
Tyler Dasson !ed.&, Nobel %ri&e 4inners !"#,B&, and two additional
volumes, Nobel %ri&e 4inners, Supple#ent, (,)5+(,,(, ed. by Paula
McCuire !"##=&, and Nobel %ri&e 4inners, Supple#ent, (,,6+(,,7, ed.
by Clifford Thomson !"##B&, arranged alhabetically by rizewinner6
and *ernard (. (chlessinger and >une @. (chlessinger, The 4ho3s 4ho of
Nobel %ri&e 4inners, (,*(+(,,8, ?rd ed. !"##$&, arranged
chronologically by rize category, give biograhical and bibliograhic
information on winners in all the rize categories. (haron *ertsch
McCrayne, Nobel %ri&e 4o#en in Science: Their i0es, Stru""les, and
9o#entous :isco0eries !"##?&, treats "F women who either won the
rize or were an imortant art of a rizewinning ro;ect. )dditional
biograhical and bibliograhic information on the laureates, by
category, may be found in the following reference wor/sG 7ran/ N.
Magill !ed.&, The Nobel %ri&e 4inners: 'he#istry, ? vol. !"##2&6 Laylin
9. >ames !ed.&, Nobel aureates in 'he#istry, (,*(+(,,( !"##?&6
*ernard (. 9atz !ed.&, Nobel aureates in Econo#ic Sciences !"#,#&6
Dilliam *reit and 4oger D. (encer !eds.&, i0es of the aureates:
Thirteen Nobel Econo#ists, ?rd ed. !"##-&6 4ado Pribic !ed.&, Nobel
aureates in iterature !"##2&6 7ran/ N. Magill !ed.&, The Nobel %ri&e
4inners: iterature, ? vol. !"#,B&6 Tony Cray, 'ha#pions of %eace
!"#B$&6 +rwin )brams, The Nobel %eace %ri&e and the aureates !"#,,&6
7ran/ N. Magill !ed.&, The Nobel %ri&e 4inners: %hysiolo"y or 9edicine,
? vol. !"##"&6 1aniel M. 7o%, Marcia Meldrum, and +ra 4eza/ !ed.&, Nobel
aureates in 9edicine or %hysiolo"y !"##2&6 4obert L. Deber, %ioneers
of Science: Nobel %ri&e 4inners in %hysics, =nd ed. !"#,,&6 and 7ran/
N. Magill !ed.&, The Nobel %ri&e 4inners: %hysics, ? vol. !"#,#&.
H =2"F 5ncycloIdia *ritannica, +nc.
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