Great minds think differently. The Nobel Prize is a celebration of excellence.
The Nobel Prize is considered the most prestigious award in the world in its field. It is awarded to ‘those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind’. Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace have been awarded since 1901, and economic sciences since 1968.
The Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established by Sweden’s central bank (Sveriges Riksbank) in 1968. The prize is based on a donation to the Nobel Foundation in 1968 from the central bank to mark the bank’s 300th anniversary. This prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Kungl. vetenskapsakademin), following the same principles as the Nobel Prizes.
Prize-winning discoveries include X-rays, radioactivity and penicillin. Peace laureates include Nelson Mandela and the 14th Dalai Lama. Nobel Prize winners in literature have thrilled readers with works such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez) and The Grass is Singing (Doris Lessing).
Nobel Prize winners announced in October
Every year in early October, the winners are announced. And on 10 December, the so-called Nobel Day, award ceremonies take place in the Swedish capital of Stockholm and the Norwegian capital of Oslo.
The years 2020 and 2021 were exceptions to the rule. With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the laureates received their diplomas and medals in their countries of residence. Nobel Week was staged as a digital event, with award ceremonies and lectures held online and the usual banquets in Stockholm and Oslo cancelled. In 2021, however, the Norwegian Nobel Committee opted for an in-person award ceremony.
The man behind the Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize is the legacy of Alfred Nobel, a chemist, engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden, and died on 10 December 1896 in San Remo, Italy.
When he signed his last will in 1895, Nobel declared that he wanted the bulk of his assets to go to a fund, and that the interest from that fund should be distributed as annual prizes.
Nobel’s own inventions include a blasting cap, dynamite and smokeless gunpowder. He became famous across the world when the St. Gotthard Tunnel in the Swiss Alps was completed in 1881 and dynamite was used for the first time on a large scale.
At the time of his death, Nobel held 355 patents in different countries. There were Nobel companies in more than 20 countries, with explosives of all kinds being manufactured under his patents in around 90 factories worldwide. Nobel lived and worked in many countries, including Sweden, Russia, France, the UK, Germany and Italy.
The foundation
In 1900 the four institutions awarding the prizes agreed to create the Nobel Foundation, a private institution based on the will of Alfred Nobel. The foundation would administer Alfred Nobel’s assets, totalling more than SEK 31 million (quite a sum of money at the time), make public announcements and arrange the prize ceremonies. The capital is currently worth over SEK 4.9 billion.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
The Swedish Academy awards the Nobel Prize in Literature.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, consisting of five members appointed by the Norwegian parliament, awards the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Prize in each category is currently worth SEK 10 million. There can be up to three recipients for each prize, who share the sum between them.
