19 most interesting facts about Nobel Prizes
Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 1833. He is known for inventing dynamite. Nobel held 355 different patents by his name, dynamite being the most famous. Alfred Nobel died on 10 December 1896 at the age of 63 years.
Who Selects the Nobel Laureates?
In his last testament, Alfred Nobel specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established:
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects the Nobel Laureate in Physics and Chemistry, Karolinska Institute selects Nobel Laureate in the field of Physiology or Medicine, the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize selects Nobel Laureate in Literature, and a Committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament selects for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was given the task to select the Laureates in Economic Sciences starting in 1969.
On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine or Physiology, Literature, and Peace.
Lists of Nobel Prizes and Laureates
The Nobel Prizes commenced in 1901. The recipients of the first Nobel Prizes were given 150,782 SEK. In 2018, the laureates were awarded a prize amount of 9,000,000 SEK. The Nobel Prize money varies every year.
Worthy to mention that despite having been nominated five times, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi never won the Nobel Prize.
Now let's have a look at the important facts about the Nobel Prizes;
1. There are a total of 597 Nobel awards have been given to 950 Nobel Laureates b/w 1901 to 2019.
2. The average age of all Nobel Laureates in all prize categories between 1901 and 2017 is 60 years.
3. Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel Laureates who got the Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of just 17 years.
4. John B. Goodenough is the oldest recipient of this prize in Chemistry 2019 at the age of 97 years.
5. Alfred Nobel left most of his estate, more than SEK 31 million (today approximately SEK 1,702 million) to be converted into a fund and invested in “safe securities.”
6. The Nobel Prize amount for 2018 is set at Swedish kronor (SEK) 9.0 million per full Nobel Prize.
7. John Bardeen is the only Nobel Laureate who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics twice, in 1956 and 1972.
8. The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded 113 times to 213 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2019.
9. Marie Curie is the only one woman who has been honoured twice, with the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
10. Just 54 women in total have been awarded the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2019.
11. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded 111 times to 184 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2019.
12. Frederick Sanger is the only Nobel Laureate who has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry twice, in 1958 and 1980. This means that a total of 180 individuals have received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
13. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 110 times to 219 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2019.
14. The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded 51 times to 84 Laureates between 1969 and 2019.
15. The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded 112 times to 116 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2017.
16. The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 to Henry Dunant (Switzerland) and Frédéric Passy (France).
17. The Peace Prize is the only prize that is not presented in Stockholm. This prize is presented annually in Oslo, in the presence of the King of Norway, on December 10, the death anniversary of Alfred Nobel.
18. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 100 times to 134 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2019 which includes 27 organizations and 107 individuals.
19. It is known that so far 9 Indians/people of Indian origin have received Nobel Prize and the first Indian to receive the Nobel Prize was Rabindra Nath Tagore.
So these were some interesting facts about the Nobel Prize. There are a lot of questions are asked in the various exams based on the Nobel Prizes. So these facts need to be remembered carefully.
