Facts about Sweden: The Nobel Prize sweden.se

The Nobel Prize – the 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 turns Nobel Day is 10 December. For the prize its gaze towards Sweden and Norway as the winners, it is the crowning point of a week Nobel Laureates are announced in Stockholm of speeches, conferences and receptions. and Oslo. Millions of people visit the website At the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in of the Nobel Foundation during this time. Stockholm on that day, the Laureates in The Nobel Prize has been awarded to Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, people and organisations every year since and Literature receive a medal from the 1901 (with a few exceptions such as during King of Sweden, as well as a diploma and

The Nobel Banquet is World War II) for achievements in physics, a cash award. The ceremony is followed a magnificent party held chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature by a gala banquet. The Nobel Peace Prize at Stockholm City Hall. and peace. is awarded in Oslo the same day. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT Facts about Sweden: The Nobel Prize sweden.se

Prize in Economic Sciences ceremonies. The total amount awarded each In 1968, Sweden’s central bank (Sveriges year is based on the most recent return on Nobel Prize numbers Riksbank) established the Prize in Economic investment. The capital is currently worth over Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The SEK 4.5 billion, more than double the value of 53 women prize is based on a donation received by the the original estate when adjusted for inflation. The Nobel Prize and the Prize in Eco­ Nobel Foundation in 1968 from the central The Nobel Prize in each category is cur­ nomic Sciences have been awarded bank to mark the bank’s 300th anniversary. rently worth SEK 9 million (EUR 836,000, to women 54 times from 1901 to The Prize in Economic Sci­ences is awarded USD 921,000). There can be up to three 2019. One woman, Marie Curie, has been honoured twice, receiving by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recipients for each prize, who share the sum the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and following the same principles as the Nobel between them. the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Prizes. Organisations affiliated with the prize This means a total of 53 women Legacy of Alfred Nobel The Nobel Prize is affiliated with several have received Nobel Prizes to date: The Nobel Prize is the legacy of Sweden’s organisations and institutions entrusted with 17 have received the Peace Prize, Alfred Nobel (1833–1896). Prizes are awarded different tasks related to the prize. 15 the Prize in Literature, 12 in Physi­ to ‘those who, during the preceding year, The Nobel Foundation Rights Association ology/Medicine, 5 in Chemistry (in­ shall have conferred the greatest benefit was established in 1999 to provide informa­ cluding Curie), 3 in Physics (including on mankind.’ When he signed his last will tion through a variety of media about the Curie) and 2 in Economic Sciences. in 1895, Nobel declared that the bulk of his Nobel Laureates and their achievements. estate should be converted into a fund and This non-profit association serves as 97 years old invested in safe securities. The four institu­ an umbrella organisation for three other The oldest Laureate to date is tions in Sweden and Norway (the two coun­ entities: John B. Goodenough, who was tries were united between 1814 and 1905) 97 when he was awarded the Prize • Nobel Media, which develops and manages conferring the prizes were to be the Royal in Chemistry in 2019. programmes, productions and media Swedish Academy of Sciences, Karolinska rights of the Nobel Prize within the areas Institutet, the Swedish Academy (all in 17 years old of digital and broadcast media, publishing Stockholm) and a committee of five people The youngest Laureate to date is as well as events. to be elected by the Norwegian parliament Malala Yousafzai, who was 17 when • The Nobel Museum, housed in the Old (Stortinget, in Oslo). she was awarded the Peace Prize Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset) in in 2014. The Nobel Foundation Stockholm’s Old Town, creates interest and In 1900, the four institutions awarding the spreads knowledge around the natural Two have declined prizes agreed to create the Nobel Foundation, sciences and culture. Two Nobel Laureates have declined a private institution based on Alfred Nobel’s • The Nobel Peace Center, at Rådhusplassen the Nobel Prize. Jean-Paul Sartre, will. The Nobel Foundation would administer in Oslo, Norway, a showcase which presents awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Nobel’s estate, totalling SEK 31 million, make the Nobel Peace Prize and the work of the Literature, declined the award be­ public announcements and arrange the prize Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. cause he had consistently declined all official honours. Lê Ðức Thọ was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with US Sec­ retary of State Henry Kissinger for negotiating the Vietnam peace agree­ The father of dynamite ment. Lê Ðức Thọ said he was not in a position to accept the Nobel Peace Alfred Nobel was a chemist, engineer, inventor Photo: Nobel Museum Prize, due to the situation in Vietnam. and entrepreneur. He was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, and died on 10 December Four forced to decline 1896 in San Remo, Italy. He was devoted to the Four Nobel Laureates have been study of explosives, and his inventions include forced by authorities to decline the a blasting cap, dynamite and smokeless gun­ Nobel Prize. Adolf Hitler forbade powder. Nobel became famous across the world three German Laureates – Richard when the St. Gotthard Tunnel in the Swiss Alps Kuhn (Chemistry), Adolf Butenandt was completed in 1881 and dynamite was used (Chemis­try) and Gerhard Domagk for the first time on a large scale. (Physi­ology/Medicine) – from At the time of his death, Nobel held 355 patents accepting their prizes. The Nazi in different countries. There were Nobel compa­ regime banned all Germans from nies in more than 20 countries, with explosives accepting Nobel Prizes after the of all kinds being manufactured under his patents 1935 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in around 90 factories worldwide. Nobel lived to Carl von Ossietzky, a German writer and worked in many countries, including Sweden, who publicly opposed Hitler and Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Nazism. The three later received their Italy. He spoke five lan­guages, had a passionate awards, but not the prize money. interest in literature, and wrote poetry and drama. Boris Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel He could never have imagined how important his Laureate in Literature, initially accepted prize would become, or how much media atten­ the prize but was later coerced into tion future Nobel Laureates would attract. Alfred Nobel. declining by Soviet authorities. Facts about Sweden: The Nobel Prize sweden.se

A history of culture and science The Nobel Prize- awarding institutions Between 1901, when the first Nobel Prize was awarded, and 2019, a total of 950 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to individuals and Four institutions select the Nobel Laureates: organisations. Together, they represent a major contribution to the The Royal Swedish Academy of cultural and scientific history of the world. Sciences (Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Sveriges Photos: Shutterstock; Melker Dahlstrand/Imagebank.sweden.se; Getty Images Getty Melker Dahlstrand/Imagebank.sweden.se; Photos: Shutterstock; 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 around 460 Swedish and 175 foreign members. The Swedish Academy (Nobel Prize in Literature). Founded in 1786, it consists of 18 chairs. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). Dating from 1977 in its current form, the assembly con­ sists of 50 professors at Karolinska Institutet. The Norwegian Nobel Committee (Nobel Peace Prize). Founded in 1897, its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

The banquet of banquets

Prize-winning discoveries (clockwise from left): X-rays; AGA lighthouse, a type of automatic lighthouse The Nobel Banquet is a magnificent that runs on acetylene gas; the molecular structure of DNA – the double helix; penicillin. party held in the Blue Hall at Stockholm City Hall. The preparations are metic­ ulous. Hundreds of cooks, waiters The Nobel Prize has been awarded to 923 in­ that ran on acetylene gas. The gas supply and attendants ensure that everything dividual Laureates and 27 organisations. was controlled by a sun valve that shut off runs smoothly. Some 1,300 guests are Only a few recipients have been honoured the gas in daylight, and a revolving light invited, with each Laureate entitled to more than once, which means that a total of apparatus that allowed the beacon to flash bring 14 guests beside their spouses. 919 individuals and 24 unique organisations by switching the gas off and on at brief, Sweden’s royal family is always have received prizes to date. regular intervals. The two innovations present, as are the prime minister The first Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1901, made it possible to reduce gas consumption and other members of the govern­ went to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen for his by 90 per cent compared with earlier con­ ment. The Nobel family is always represented. The remainder of the discovery of X-rays, used every day by health structions. guest list should reflect the cultural care providers around the world. In the autumn of 1945, the Nobel Assem­ and scientific com­munity of Sweden In 1903, Marie Curie became the first female bly of professors at Karolinska Institutet and the world. Laureate when she was named a joint winner gathered to select a Nobel Laureate in Photo: Fredrika Berghult/Nobel Media AB Media Berghult/Nobel Fredrika Photo: of the Nobel Prize in Physics for her research Physiology or Medicine. They chose three into radioactivity. She received her second Laureates, including Alexander Fleming, prize in 1911 – this time in chemistry – for for their discovery of penicillin, which saved isolating and studying the new element millions of lives in the second half of the radium. 20th century. In 1905, Austrian baroness and author Previous Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Bertha von Suttner became the first woman include Martin Luther King (1964), Mother to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition Teresa (1979) and Barack Obama (2009). of her work with the pacifist movements in Nobel Laureates in Literature include Germany and Austria. She was also widely Ernest Hemingway (1954), Toni Morrison seen as inspiring Alfred Nobel, with whom (1993), Dario Fo (1997) and Mario Vargas she corresponded, to create the Peace Prize. Llosa (2010). In 1912, Swedish inventor and industrialist In 2018, no Nobel Prize in Literature was Gustaf Dalén won the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded. The Swedish Academy, in the midst Around 1,300 guests are invited each for his contributions to lighthouse technol­ of a crisis, cited their diminished number year to the grand banquet. ogy. In the early 1900s, he invented the AGA of active members and a reduced public lighthouse, a type of automatic lighthouse confidence as the reasons for not handing Facts about Sweden: The Nobel Prize sweden.se

out a Prize that year. The Academy instead for his efforts to resolve border conflicts announced the Nobel Prize in Literature for between Ethiopia and neighbouring country 2019 Nobel Prizes 2018 – Olga Tokarczuk – in parallel with the Eritrea. The intent of the Prize was also to (Countries denote place of birth.) naming of the 2019 Laureate, Peter Handke. recognise all stakeholders working for peace Chemistry In 2019 the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East John B. Goodenough, Germany; to Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Northeast African regions. M. Stanley Whittingham, England; Akira Yoshino, Japan. ‘For the development of lithium-ion batteries.’ Literature The Nobel Prize calendar Peter Handke, Austria. ‘For an influential work that with linguis­ The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm is held on tic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.’ 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. On the same day, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. In 2019, the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature was also awarded. Olga Tokarczuk, Poland, received the Prize ‘for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic Several other activities take place the same Nobel Week in Stockholm passion represents the crossing of week, with receptions and dinners hosted by boundaries as a form of life.’ the institutions awarding prizes, the Nobel 5–7 December Press conferences and seminars Foundation and the Swedish Royal Family. are held in Stockholm. Peace Abiy Ahmed Ali, Ethiopia. The Laureates deliver lectures and talk about 7–8 December The Laureates deliver their Nobel ‘For his efforts to achieve peace and their work, with panel discussions and other Lectures. A Nobel Prize Concert in honour of the international cooperation, and in public appearances usually arranged. Laureates is held at the Stockholm Concert Hall. Traditionally, the Laureates and their spouses particular for his decisive initiative 9 December Nobel Week Dialogue. sit with the Royal Family at the Nobel Banquet. to resolve the border conflict with They are also invited to a more intimate dinner 10 December The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony neighbouring Eritrea.’ at the Royal Palace, where they meet the Royal is held in the Stockholm Concert Hall, where Physics the King of Sweden presents each Laureate with Family again. The visit to the Nobel Foundation James Peebles, Canada. a Nobel Prize Medal and a Nobel Prize Diploma. is a great symbolic event. ‘For theoretical discoveries in physical The Nobel Banquet is then held at Stockholm The Laureates receive a document con­firming cosmology.’ City Hall. the prize amount and sign their names in a Michel Mayor, Switzerland; guestbook, thereby joining hundreds of famous 11 December The festivities conclude with Didier Queloz, Switzerland. predecessors. a banquet dinner at the Royal Palace. ‘For the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.’ Physiology or Medicine William G. Kaelin Jr, USA; Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, England; Gregg L. Semenza, USA. ‘For their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.’ Useful links The Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel www.ki.se Karolinska Institutet Abhijit Banerjee, India; www.kva.se The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Esther Duflo, France; www.nobelpeacecenter.org Nobel Peace Center Michael Kremer, USA. www.nobelpeaceprize.org The Norwegian Nobel Committee ‘For their experimental approach to www.nobelprize.org The official website of the Nobel Prize alleviating global poverty.’ www.svenskaakademien.se The Swedish Academy

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