2021 Nobel Prize

Winners
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NOBEL PRIZE FIRST

GIVEN IN 1901

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Prize Facts 2021

society”

Nobel Prize 2021 Infograph Mobile version

 Nobel Prize

Peace Peace

Maria Ressa Dmitry Muratov

Co-founder and CEO Editor-in-chief of Novaya
of Philippiness based Gazeta operating in Russia.
news port Rapple.

2021’s Peace Prize was shared by 2 Journalists - Maria Ressa & Dmitry Andre- Physics
yevich Muratov
Work - For their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a pre-
condition for democracy and lasting peace.

Note - International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has won the most
Nobel Peace Prizes (3).

Maria Ressa - Philippines

Maria Ressa, the CEO of Rappler, is the 1st Filipino Nobel Prize laureate.
She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her investigative journalism work, Medicine
which mainly focused on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s nationwide
killing campaign against drug dealers.

Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov - Russia

Dmitry Muratov, one the founders of Novaya Gazeta - an independent Rus-
sian newspaper, was awarded the prize for his decades of effort in Journalism
on corruption and human rights violations by the Russian government.

1st Laureate: Chemistry

Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
(IRCR) Movement shared the 1st ever Nobel Peace Prize with Frédéric Passy,
the founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
• Bertha von Suttner (Austria) was the 2nd Women Laureate & the 1st
Woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She was awarded for her an-
ti-war novels.

Literature

Economics

Noble facts
Nobel Prize

Physics Peace

Syukuro Manabe Giorgio Parisi

(Japanese meteorologist (Italian theoretical physicist)
and climatologist)

Klaus
Hasselmann
Physics
Editor-in-chief of Novaya
Gazeta operating in Russia.

3 Laureates - Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, Giorgio Parisi were awarded

the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics.

• Giorgio Parisi received half of the Nobel Prize (ie; 5 million SEK), while the
other half was jointly awarded to Syukuro Manabe & Klaus Hasselmanns.
Medicine
Note - John Bardeen is the only person to have won 2 Nobel Prizes in Physics
(1956 & 1972)

Giorgio Parisi - Italy

Giorgio Parisi is an Italian theoretical physicist who serves as a Professor of Quan-
tum Theories at the Sapienza University of Rome,Italy.

Work - Discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems

from atomic to planetary scales Chemistry
Syukuro Manabe & Klaus Hasselmann
Work - Physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably
predicting global warming

i. Syukuro Manabe is a Japanese-American meteorologist and climatologist, who

currently serves as senior meteorologist at Princeton University, USA.

ii. Klaus Hasselmann is a German oceanographer and climate modeller, who cur-
rently works as a Professor at Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany. Literature

Notable Nobel Laureates in Physics:

• Albert Einstein (1921) - Discovery of the law of the Photoelectric effect
• Wilhelm Röntgen (1901) - Discovered X-Rays
• J. J. Thomson (1906) - Discovered Electron, the 1st Subatomic particle to get
discovered
• James Chadwick (1935) - Discovered Neutron
• Marie Curie (1903) - For the joint researches on the radiation phenomena
discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel Economics
• Niels Bohr (1922) - Work on Structure of Atom & Quantum Theory

1st Laureate:
Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, a German Physicist was the 1st to win the Nobel Prize
in Physics in 1901, for his discovery of X-rays or Röntgen rays.
• Marie Curie (Poland & France) became the 1st Woman Laureate in Physics,
when she was awarded in 1903

Noble facts
 Nobel Prize

Medicine Peace

David Julius Ardem

(American Physiologist) Patapoutian
(American molecular
neurobiologist)

2021’s Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology was shared by David Julius & Ar- Physics
dem Patapoutian.

Work - Discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch

i. Their work is mainly focused on how heat, cold and mechanical force can
initiate the nerve impulses that allow us to perceive and adapt to the climatic
conditions, which will be used for treating a wide range of diseases.

Note - Alexander Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945,
for his discovery of Penicillin. Medicine
David Julius - USA
David Julius is an American physiologist and a professor at the University of
California, USA. He is well known for his work on molecular mechanisms of
pain sensation and heat.
Ardem Patapoutian - Lebanon (Residence at the time of Award - USA)
Ardem Patapoutian is a Lebanese-American molecular biologist and neuro-
scientist of Armenian descent at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California. His
work mainly focused on receptors that detect pressure. Chemistry
1st Laureate:
Emil von Behring from Germany was awarded with the 1st Nobel Prize for
Medicine/Physiology in 1901 for his invention of Diphtheria antitoxin (DAT).
• In 1947, Gerty Theresa Cori, became the 1st Woman to receive the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Literature

Economics

Noble facts
Nobel Prize

Chemistry Peace

Benjamin List David

(German chemist) W.C. MacMillan
(American Chemist)

Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan were jointly awarded with the Physics
2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Work - For the development of Asymmetric organocatalysis

Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan independently developed the 3rd
type of catalyst - Asymmetric Organocatalysis, that is made of small or-
ganic molecules & can be used as a catalyst to speed up the reactions.

Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan

Medicine
i. Benjamin List is a German Chemist,who currently serves as the Director
of the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung, Mülheim an der Ruhr,
Germany.

ii. David W.C. MacMillan is a chemist from the United Kingdom, who is a
Professor at Princeton University, USA.

Notable Nobel Laureates in Chemistry:

Chemistry
Ernest Rutherford (1908) - Discovery of Alpha & Beta radiations.
• Rutherford is popularly known as the ‘Father of Nuclear Physics’

Marie Curie (1911) - Discovery of Radioactive elements - Polonium &

Radium

Linus Pauling (1954) - Nature of the chemical bond and its application to
view structure of complex substances

1st Laureate: Literature

Jacobus H. van ‘t Hoff from the Netherlands was the 1st Chemist to receive
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901.
• Marie Curie was also the 1st Woman to win Nobel Prize for Chemistry
in 1911

Economics

Noble facts
Nobel Prize

Literature Peace

Abdulrazak Gurnah
(Tanzanian novelist)

Abdulrazak Gurnah received an unshared Nobel Prize in Literature in

2021. Physics
Work - Effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf be-
tween cultures and continents.

Note - Only on 4 occasions, 1904, 1917, 1966, and 1974, the prize has been
shared by 2 individuals.

Abdulrazak Gurnah - Tanzania (Residence at the time of Award - Unit-

ed Kingdom)
Abdulrazak Gurnah, a Tanzania born novelist, who came as a refugee to Medicine
the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and contributed years of his work to-
wards the effects of colonialism & refugees.
Novels:
• Debut Novel - Memory of Departure (1987)
• Nominated for Booker Prize - Paradise (1994), By the Sea (2001)
• Other famous Novels - Desertion (2005); The Last Gift (2011) and
Afterlives (2020)

1st Laureate:
Sully Prudhomme, a French Poet, was awarded the 1st ever Nobel Prize Chemistry
in Literature in 1901.
• Selma Lagerlöf (Sweden) became the 1st woman to receive the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 1909

Literature

Economics

Noble facts
Nobel Prize

Economics Science Peace

David Card Joshua

(Canada) D. Angrist (US)

Guido
W. Imbens
Physics
(US)

3 Nobel Laureates - David Card, Joshua D. Angrist and Guido W. Imbens was
awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

• David Card received half of the Nobel Prize (ie; 5 million SEK), while the
other half was jointly awarded to Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens. Medicine
Note - The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences is officially known as “The
Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel”

David Card - Canadian-American

David Card is an Economics Professor, known for his work for analysing the
labour market effects of minimum wages, immigration and education using
natural experiments.
Work - For his empirical contributions to labour economics
Chemistry
Joshua D. Angrist and Guido W. Imbens
Work - Methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships

i. Joshua D. Angrist and Guido W. Imbens have won the prize for demon-
strating how precise conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from
natural experiments.

Joshua D. Angrist - United States of America (USA)

Joshua Angrist is an Israeli American Economist, who currently serves as Literature
a Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
USA.

Guido W. Imbens - Netherlands

Guido Imbens is a Dutch-American economist, who is working as a Professor
of Economics at Stanford University, USA.

1st Laureate:
Ragnar Frisch & Jan Tinbergen were awarded the 1st ever Nobel Prize in
Economic Sciences in 1969.
Economics
• Only in 2009, Elinor Ostrom (USA) became the 1st woman to receive the
Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
• Till date, only 2 women were awarded in Economic Sciences - Elinor Os-
trom (2009) & Esther Duflo (2019)

Noble facts
Nobel Prize

Facts 2021 Peace

The Nobel Prize, the world’s most prestigious award, has been awarded an-
nually since 1901, to the people who have worked towards “important inven-
tions for the practical use of mankind”. The award was established based on
the ‘3rd will’ of the Swedish Scientist Alfred Bernhard Nobel, who left the
majority share of his property for the establishment of the Nobel Award.

Who is Alfred Nobel?

Born in 1833 at Stockholm in Sweden, Alfred Bernhard Nobel is a chemist & Physics
philanthropist, popularly known for the discovery of ‘Dynamite’.
• In 1867, he patented ‘Dynamite’, a Nitroglycerin-based explosive.

Alfred Nobel’s 3rd Will:

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his 3rd & last Will, which was
read after his death in 1896, where a major part of his wealth was allocated
for the establishment of the Prize that will annually be awarded in 5 different
fields from the interest gained from his wealth. He also named the organisa-
tions which are responsible for awarding the fields. Medicine
• 5 Fields - Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and
Peace.

Note - The Nobel Prize in a particular field for a given year, can only be
shared to a maximum of 3 Laureates

Academies responsible for Different Fields:

Physics & Chemistry - Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm
Physiology or Medicine - Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Chemistry
Literature - Swedish Academy (Svenska Akademien), Stockholm
Peace - Norwegian Nobel Committee (5-member), Oslo, Norway

The 6th Nobel Prize:

In 1968, the Nobel Foundation in Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s Central
Bank), started awarding the Nobel Prize in Economics, to mark the bank’s
300th anniversary. Since then the award has been awarded annually in the
field of Economics, making it the 6th Field to be awarded.
Literature
• Awarding Institution - Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm

Note - Only the Nobel Prize for Peace is awarded by a Norway based organi-
sation, all other 5 Nobel prizes are issued from Sweden.

What do the Nobel Laureates get?

• Nobel Prize Diploma
• Nobel Prize Medal (made of 18 carat recycled Gold)
• Prize Money - 10 million Swedish kronor (~USD 1.1 million)/full Nobel
Prize
Economics

Note - If the Nobel Prize in a particular field is awarded to 2 or 3 laureates,

then the Prize money is equally divided among them.

Noble facts
Indian Nobel

Laureates Peace

Laureates with Indian Citizenship:

Rabindranath Tagore - Literature (1913)
Famous Bengali & English writer Rabindranath Tagore became the 1st Indian, 1st
Asian & 1st Non-European to win a Nobel prize, when he was awarded with the
Nobel prize in literature in 1913.

CV Raman - Physics (1930)

Chandrasekhara Venkata(C.V.) Raman, from Tamil Nadu, became the 1st Indi- Physics
an & 1st Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in any branch of science, when he was
awarded the Nobel prize in Physics in 1930.
Work - For his work on Scattering of Light, also known as Raman Scattering or
Raman effect.

Mother Teresa - Peace (1979)

Mother Teresa is the 1st Indian Citizen & also the 1st Asian Woman to win the
Nobel Peace Prize, when she was awarded with the prize in 1979.

Amartya Sen - Economics (1998) Medicine

He is the 1st Asian to win a Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, when he was hon-
oured with the award in 1998.
Work - For his contributions to Welfare Economics, Studies of social choice, wel-
fare measurement, and poverty.

Kailash Satyarthi - Peace (2014)

Kailash Satyarthi was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 along with
Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan.
He is the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan - an NGO towards Child Rights.

Laureates who were born as Indian Citizen & became Citizens of Other Coun- Chemistry
try at the time of awarding:

Hargobind Khorana - Medicine (1968)

Har Gobind Khorana, born in Raipur- India, (Nationality- USA) won the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1968, along with Robert W. Holley and Marshall
W. Nirenberg.
Work - Interpretation of Genetic Code and its function in protein synthesis

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - Physics (1983)

Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, born in Lahore - India (now Pakistan), (Nationali- Literature
ty- USA) won the Nobel Prize in Physics 1983 along with William A. Fowler.
Work - Theoretical studies of the physical processes of importance to the struc-
ture and evolution of the stars.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan - Chemistry (2009)

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, born in Tamil Nadu, (Nationality- UK, USA) won
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 along with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yo-
nath.
Work - Conducted studies of the structure and function of the Ribosome
Economics
Abhijit Banerjee - Economics (2019)
Abhijit Banerjee, born in Mumbai, India(Nationality- USA) won The Sveriges
Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019 along
with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer.
Work - Experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

Noble facts
Famous Nobel

Laureates Peace

Famous Nobel Laureates:

Laureates with Multiple Nobel Prizes:

Laureate Field & Year

International Committee of the Red

Cross (ICRC)
Peace - 1917, 1944 & 1963 Physics
United Nations High Commissioner for Peace - 1954 & 1981
Refugees (UNHRC)

Linus Pauling Chemistry - 1954 & Peace - 1962

Frederick Sanger Chemistry - 1958 & 1980

John Bardeen Physics - 1956 & 1972 Medicine

Marie Curie Physics - 1903 & Chemistry - 1911

Youngest & Oldest Laureate:

Youngest - In 2014, at the age of 17, Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel
Peace Prize to become the youngest ever Nobel Laureate.
Oldest - In 2019, John B. Goodenough from the USA became the Oldest Nobel
Laureate, when he was honoured with the award in 2019 in the field of Chemistry. Chemistry
No Posthumous Nobel Prize:
In 1974, the Nobel Foundation decided not to Posthumously award the Nobel
Prize, unless the person has died after the announcement of the Nobel Prize. Only
one person - Ralph Steinman (Medicine) was awarded, as the Nobel Foundation
was unaware of his death at the time of announcement.

Notable Facts on Nobel Prize:

Marie Curie is the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two sciences - Physics
(1903) & Chemistry (1911).
Literature
• Marie Curie is also the 1st Woman Nobel Laureate.
• From 1901 till 2021, a total of 58 women were awarded with the Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize in Literature is the only field where the Prize has never been
shared by 3 Laureates.
• No person has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once

Linus Pauling is the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes – Chemistry
(1954) & Peace (1962) Economics
Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, 1938, 1939,
1947 and, January 1948, days before his assasinaiton. And in 1948, No prize was
awarded, on the grounds that, “there was no suitable living candidate”.

Former Prime Minister of UK - Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Peace
in Literature in 1953, though he was nominated for both the Literature & Peace
Prize.
Noble facts