FACTS ABOUT SWEDEN | THE NOBEL PRIZE sweden.se PHOTO: DAN HANSSON/TT

Each year, King Carl XVI Gustaf personally presents a diploma to the winners during a stately ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall.

NOBEL PRIZE: THE PRESTIGIOUS AWARD THAT CAPTURES THE WORLD’S ATTENTION

The Nobel Prize is considered the most prestigious award in the world. Prize-winning discoveries include X-rays, radioactivity and penicillin. Peace Laureates include Nelson Mandela and the 14th Dalai Lama. Nobel Laureates in Literature, including Gabriel García Márquez and Doris Lessing, have thrilled readers with works such as One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Grass is Singing.

Every year in early October, the world Nobel Day is 10 December. For the prize Prize in Economic Sciences turns its gaze towards Sweden and winners, it is the crowning point of a week In 1968, Sweden’s central bank (Sveriges Norway as the Nobel Laureates are of speeches, conferences and receptions. Riksbank) established the Prize in announced in Stockholm and Oslo. At the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Millions of people visit the website of in Stockholm on that day, the Laureates Nobel. The prize is based on a donation the Nobel Foundation during this time. in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or received by the Nobel Foundation in The Nobel Prize has been awarded Medicine, and Literature receive a medal 1968 from the central bank to mark to people and organisations every year from the King of Sweden, as well as the bank’s 300th anniversary. The Prize since 1901 (with a few exceptions such a diploma and a cash award. The cer­ in Economic Sciences is awarded by as during World War II) for achieve­ emony is followed by a gala banquet. the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, ments in physics, chemistry, physiology The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in follow­ing the same principles as the or medicine, literature and peace. Oslo the same day. Nobel Prizes. „ FACTS ABOUT SWEDEN | THE NOBEL PRIZE sweden.se

DID YOU KNOW? „ Legacy of Alfred Nobel up to three recipients for each prize, who The Nobel Prize is the legacy of Sweden’s­ share the sum between them. 48 WOMEN Alfred Nobel (1833–1896). Prizes are The Nobel Prize and the Prize in awarded to ‘those who, during the pre­ Organisations affiliated with Economic Sciences have been ceding year, shall have conferred the the prize awarded to women 49 times from greatest benefit on mankind.’ When he The Nobel Prize is affiliated with several 1901 to 2016. One woman, Marie signed his last will in 1895, Nobel declared organisations and institutions entrusted Curie, has been honoured twice, receiving the 1903 Nobel Prize in that the bulk of his estate should be con­ with different tasks related to the prize. Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize verted into a fund and invested in safe The Nobel Foundation Rights Association in Chemistry. This means a total securities. The four institutions in Sweden was established in 1999 to provide informa­ of 48 women have received Nobel and Norway (the two countries were united tion through a variety of media about the Prizes to date: between 1814 and 1905) conferring the Nobel Laureates and their achievements. 16 have received the Peace Prize, 14 the Prize in Literature, prizes were to be the Swedish Academy This non-profit association serves as 12 in Physiology/Medicine, of Sciences, Karolinska Institutet in Stock­ an umbrella organisation for four other 4 in Chemistry (including Curie), holm, the Academy in Stockholm and a entities:­ 2 in Physics (including Curie) and committee of five people to be elected by • Nobel Media AB, which develops and 1 in Economic Sciences. the Norwegian parliament (Stortinget). manages programmes, productions and 90 YEARS OLD media rights of the Nobel Prize within The Nobel Foundation the areas of digital and broadcast media, The oldest Laureate to date is Leonid In 1900, the four institutions awarding the publishing as well as events. Hurwicz, who was 90 when he was awarded the Prize in Economic prizes agreed to create the Nobel Founda­ • The Nobel Museum AB, housed in the Sciences in 2007. tion, a private institution based on Alfred Old Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset­ ) Nobel’s will. The Nobel Foundation would in Stockholm’s Old Town, creates inter­ 17 YEARS OLD administer Nobel’s estate, totalling SEK est and spreads knowledge around the The youngest Laureate to date is Malala 31 million, make public announcements natural sciences and culture. Yousafzai, who was 17 when she was and arrange the prize ceremonies. The • The Nobel Peace Center, at Rådhusplas­ awarded the Peace Prize in 2014. ­total amount awarded each year is based sen in Oslo, Norway, a showcase which on the most recent return on investment. presents the Nobel Peace Prize and the TWO HAVE DECLINED The capital is currently worth just over SEK work of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. Two Nobel Laureates have declined 4 billion, almost double the value of the • The Nobel Prize Education Fund, the Nobel Prize. Jean-Paul Sartre, original estate when adjusted for inflation. which supports educational outreach awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in ­focused on the achievements of Nobel Literature, declined the award be­ The Nobel Prize in each category is cur­ cause he had consistently declined rently worth SEK 8 million. There can be Laureates.­ n all official honours. Lê Ðúc Tho . was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for negotiating the Vietnam peace THE FATHER OF DYNAMITE agreement. Lê Ðúc Tho . said he was

not in a position to accept the Nobel PHOTO: NOBEL MUSEUM Peace Prize, due to the situation in Alfred Nobel was a chemist, engineer, in­ Vietnam. ventor and entrepreneur. He was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, and died FOUR FORCED TO DECLINE on 10 December 1896 in San Remo, Italy. He was devoted to the study of explo­ Four Nobel Laureates have been sives, and his inventions include a blast­ forced by authorities to decline the ing cap, dynamite and smokeless gun­ Nobel Prize. Adolf Hitler forbade powder. Nobel became famous across the three German Laureates – Richard world when the St. Gotthard Tunnel in the Kuhn (Chemistry), Adolf Butenandt Swiss Alps was completed in 1881 and (Chemistry) and Gerhard Domagk dynamite was used for the first time on (Physiology/Medicine) – from ac­ a large scale. cepting their prizes. The Nazi regime At the time of his death, Nobel held banned all Germans from accepting 355 patents in different countries. Nobel Prizes after the 1935 Nobel There were Nobel companies in more Peace Prize was awarded to Carl than 20 countries, with explosives of all von Ossietzky, a German writer who kinds being manufactured under his pat­ publicly opposed Hitler and Nazism. ents in around 90 factories worldwide. Alfred Nobel. The three later received their awards, Nobel lived and worked in many coun­ but not the prize money. tries, including Sweden, Russia, France, and drama. He could never have imag­ Boris Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. ined how important his prize would be­ Laureate in Literature, initially accept­ He spoke five languages, had a passion­ come, or how much media attention future ed the prize but was later coerced into ate interest in literature, and wrote poetry Nobel Laureates would attract. n declining by Soviet authorities.

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THE NOBEL PRIZE-AWARDING PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK INSTITUTIONS Four institutions select the Nobel Laureates:

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel). Founded in 1739 as an independent organisation, it aims to promote the sciences and enhance their influence in society. It currently has PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK around 450 Swedish and 175 foreign members.

The Swedish Academy (Nobel Prize in Literature). Founded in 1786, it consists of 18 Swedes, all elected for life.

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). Dating from 1977 in its current form, the assembly consists of Prize-winning discoveries (clockwise from left): X-rays; AGA lighthouse, a type of 50 professors at Karolinska Institutet. automatic lighthouse that runs on acetylene gas; the molecular structure of DNA – The Norwegian Nobel Committee the double helix; penicillin. (Nobel Peace Prize). Founded in 1897, its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. A HISTORY OF CULTURE AND SCIENCE

PHOTO: FREDRIKA BERGHULT/NOBEL MEDIA AB Between 1901, when the first Nobel Prize was awarded, and 2016, a total of 911 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to individuals and organisations. Together, they represent a major contribution to the cultural and scientific history of the world.

There have been 885 prizes awarded to Physics for his contributions to lighthouse individuals and 26 to organisations. Only a technology. In the early 1900s, he invented few recipients have been honoured more the AGA lighthouse, a type of automatic than once, which means that a total of ­ lighthouse that ran on acetylene gas. The 881 individuals and 23 unique organisa­ gas supply was controlled by a sun valve tions have received prizes to date. that shut off the gas in daylight, and a re­ The first Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1901, volving light apparatus that allowed the Around 1,300 guests are invited went to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen for his beacon to flash by switching the gas off each year to the grand banquet. discovery of X-rays, used every day by and on at brief, regular intervals. The two health care providers around the world. innovations made it possible to reduce gas THE BANQUET OF BANQUETS In 1903, Marie Curie became the first consumption by 90 per cent compared The Nobel Banquet is a magnificent female Laureate when she was named a with earlier constructions. party held in the Blue Hall at Stockholm joint winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics In the autumn of 1945, the Nobel Assembly City Hall. The preparations are metic­ for her research into radioactivity. She re­ of professors at Karolinska Institutet gathered ulous. Hundreds of cooks, waiters ceived her second prize in 1911 – this time to select a Nobel Laureate in Physiology and attendants ensure that everything runs smoothly. Some 1,300 guests are in chemistry – for isolating and studying or Medicine. They chose three Laure­ invited, with each Laureate entitled to the new element radium. ates, including­ Alexander Fleming, for bring 14 guests beside their spouses. In 1905, Austrian baroness and author their ­discovery of penicillin, which saved Sweden’s royal family is always Bertha von Suttner became the first woman ­millions of lives in the second half of the present, as are the prime minister and to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition 20th century. other members of the government. The Nobel family is always represented. of her work with the pacifist movements In 2016, the Nobel Peace Prize was award­ The remainder of the guest list should in Germany and Austria. She was also ed to Colombian President Juan Manuel reflect the cultural and scientific com­ widely seen as inspiring Alfred Nobel, with Santos for his efforts to put an end to his munity of Sweden and the world. whom she corresponded, to create the country’s more than 50-year-long civil Peace Prize. war. The war has cost the lives of at least In 1912, Swedish inventor and industri­ 220,000 Colombians and displaced close alist Gustaf Dalén won the Nobel Prize in to six million people. „ 3 | FACTS ABOUT SWEDEN | THE NOBEL PRIZE sweden.se

2016 NOBEL PRIZES „ Previous Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in­ (1993), Dario Fo (1997) and Mario Vargas clude Martin Luther King (1964), Mother Llosa (2010). The oldest Laureate in litera­ (Countries denote place of birth.) Teresa (1979) and Barack Obama (2009). ture was Doris Lessing, who won the prize Chemistry Nobel Laureates in Literature include in 2007 at the age of 87. n Jean-Pierre Sauvage, France; Ernest Hemingway (1954), Toni Morrison Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, USA; Bernard L. Feringa, the Netherlands. ‘For the design and synthesis of molecular machines.’ THE NOBEL PRIZE CALENDAR Literature Bob Dylan, USA The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm is held on ‘For having created new poetic expres­ sions within the great American song 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. On the tradition.’ same day, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. PHOTO: CHRIS PIZZELLO/TT PHOTO: CHRIS Several other activities take place the same Nobel Banquet. They are also invited to a week, with receptions and dinners hosted by more intimate dinner at the Royal Palace, the institutions awarding prizes, the Nobel where they meet the Royal Family again. Foundation and the Swedish Royal Family. The visit to the Nobel Foundation is a The Laureates deliver lectures and talk about great symbolic event. their work, with panel discussions and other The Laureates receive a document con­ public appearances usually arranged. firming the prize amount and sign their

Bob Dylan. Traditionally, the Laureates and their names in a guestbook, thereby joining spouses sit with the Royal Family at the hundreds of famous predecessors. n Peace Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia ‘For his resolute efforts to bring the NOBEL WEEK IN STOCKHOLM country's more than 50-year-long civil 5 December 10 December war to an end.’ The Laureates (except for the Nobel Peace The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony is held Laureate) arrive in Stockholm. in the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the Physics 6–8 December King of Sweden presents each Laureate One half awarded to David J. Thouless, with a Nobel Prize Medal and a Nobel Prize UK; The Laureates deliver their lectures. The institutions awarding the prizes arrange Diploma. A televised banquet is then held the other half jointly to F. Duncan M. at Stockholm City Hall. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz, UK. press conferences, receptions and dinners. ‘For theoretical discoveries of topologi­ 8 December 11 December cal phase transitions and topological A Nobel Prize Concert in honour of the The festivities conclude phases of matter.’ Laureates is held at the Stockholm with dinner at the Royal Concert Hall. Palace. Physiology or Medicine Yoshinori Ohsumi, Japan ‘For his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.’ USEFUL LINKS The Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel www.ki.se Karolinska Institutet Oliver Hart, UK; Bengt Holmström, Finland. www.kva.se The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ‘For their contributions to contract www.nobelpeacecenter.org Nobel Peace Center theory.’ www.nobelpeaceprize.org The Norwegian Nobel Committee

www.nobelprize.org The official website of the Nobel Prize

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