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Nobel Prize: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Nobel Prize
In 1888, a French newspaper published an obituary for a man who was still alive, titled The Merchant of Death Is Dead. The article described the deceased as a man who had made his fortune by inventing ways to kill people more efficiently, a description that deeply disturbed the actual subject of the piece, Alfred Nobel. This premature obituary, which was actually for his brother Ludvig, forced Nobel to confront how history might remember him. He had spent his life inventing dynamite and other explosives, becoming one of the wealthiest men in Europe, yet the public perception of his legacy was that of a purveyor of destruction. The shock of reading his own death notice, which he had not written, inspired a radical change in his final will. He decided to use the vast majority of his fortune to create prizes that would benefit humanity, effectively transforming his name from one associated with death to one associated with peace and progress. This decision was made in the final year of his life, as he composed his last will on the 27th of November 1895 at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. The will specified that his fortune be used to establish prizes for those who conferred the greatest benefit on mankind in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Nobel died on the 10th of December 1896 in San Remo, Italy, leaving behind a legacy that would outlive his inventions and reshape the global landscape of achievement.
The Foundation of a Fortune
The execution of Alfred Nobel's will faced significant hurdles before the first prizes could be awarded. The will was not immediately approved by the Storting in Norway until the 26th of April 1897, due to widespread skepticism and legal challenges regarding the distribution of his assets. The executors of the will, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, formed the Nobel Foundation on the 29th of June 1900 to manage the fortune and organize the awarding of prizes. The foundation was established as a private organization to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes, functioning much like an investment company to ensure the funds would last for generations. The capital of the Nobel Foundation is invested 50% in shares, 20% in bonds, and 30% in other investments such as hedge funds or real estate. This financial strategy has allowed the foundation to grow its assets significantly over time, reaching 3.628 billion Swedish kronor by the 31st of December 2007. The foundation is exempt from all taxes in Sweden since 1946 and from investment taxes in the United States since 1953. The board of the foundation consists of five Swedish or Norwegian citizens, with the chairman appointed by the Swedish King in Council. The foundation's primary task is to manage the fortune left to posterity by Nobel, ensuring that the prizes can be awarded annually for the greatest benefit to humankind. The Nobel Foundation is not involved in the process of selecting the Nobel laureates, leaving that task to the various prize-awarding institutions.
When did Alfred Nobel write his will to establish the Nobel Prize?
Alfred Nobel composed his last will on the 27th of November 1895 at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. This document specified that his fortune be used to establish prizes for those who conferred the greatest benefit on mankind in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. The will was not immediately approved by the Storting in Norway until the 26th of April 1897 due to legal challenges.
Who was the first person to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics?
Wilhelm Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for his discovery of X-rays. The Academy of Sciences selected Röntgen from a shortlist that also included Philipp Lenard's work on cathode rays. This award marked the first time the Nobel Prizes were presented, occurring five years after Nobel's death.
Why was the Nobel Peace Prize not awarded between 1940 and 1942?
No prize was awarded in any category from 1940 to 1942 due to the occupation of Norway by Germany during the Second World War. The Nobel Foundation stated that the committee building in Oslo was Swedish property, which made it a safe haven from the German military. Three members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee fled into exile while the remaining members kept the work of the committee going without awarding prizes.
When was the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences first awarded?
The Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded for the first time in 1969, one year after Sweden's central bank donated money to the Nobel Foundation. The first laureates for this prize were Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes. This award is often referred to as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Where are the Nobel Prizes presented and on what date?
Except for the Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on the 10th of December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The Peace Prize and its recipients' lectures are presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, usually on the 10th of December. The Prizes awarded in Sweden's ceremonies are held at the Stockholm Concert Hall, with the Nobel banquet following immediately at Stockholm City Hall.
The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. Wilhelm Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of X-rays, while Jacobus van 't Hoff was awarded the Chemistry Prize for his contributions to chemical thermodynamics. The Swedish Academy chose the poet Sully Prudhomme for the first Nobel Prize in Literature, a decision that sparked protests from a group of 42 Swedish writers, artists, and literary critics who expected Leo Tolstoy to be awarded. The first Physiology or Medicine Prize went to the German physiologist and microbiologist Emil von Behring for his development of an antitoxin to treat diphtheria. The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Swiss Jean Henri Dunant for his role in founding the International Red Cross Movement and initiating the Geneva Convention, and jointly to the French pacifist Frédéric Passy. These inaugural awards set the stage for future controversies and debates about the selection process. The Nobel Foundation reached an agreement on guidelines for how the prizes should be awarded, and in 1900, the Nobel Foundation's newly created statutes were promulgated by King Oscar II. The Nobel Committee's Physics Prize shortlist cited Wilhelm Röntgen's discovery of X-rays and Philipp Lenard's work on cathode rays, with the Academy of Sciences selecting Röntgen for the prize. The academy received 20 nominations for the Chemistry Prize, eleven of them for Jacobus van 't Hoff, who was ultimately awarded the prize for his contributions in chemical thermodynamics.
War, Neutrality, and Survival
During the Second World War, the Nobel Prizes faced unprecedented challenges due to the global conflict and the occupation of Norway by Germany. In 1938 and 1939, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich forbade three laureates from Germany, Richard Kuhn, Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt, and Gerhard Domagk, from accepting their prizes. They were all later able to receive the diploma and medal after the war. Even though Sweden was officially neutral during the Second World War, the prizes were awarded irregularly. In 1939, the Peace Prize was not awarded, and no prize was awarded in any category from 1940 to 1942, due to the occupation of Norway by Germany. During the occupation of Norway, three members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee fled into exile. The remaining members escaped persecution from the Germans when the Nobel Foundation stated that the committee building in Oslo was Swedish property, thus making it a safe haven from the German military, which was not at war with Sweden. These members kept the work of the committee going, but did not award any prizes. In 1944, the Nobel Foundation, together with the three members in exile, made sure that nominations were submitted for the Peace Prize and that the prize could be awarded once again. The medals of German scientists Max von Laue and James Franck were sent to Copenhagen for safekeeping. When Germany invaded Denmark, Hungarian chemist and Nobel laureate George de Hevesy dissolved them in aqua regia to prevent confiscation by Nazi Germany and to prevent legal problems for the holders. After the war, the gold was recovered from solution, and the medals were re-cast.
The Economics Prize and Global Expansion
After World War II, economics evolved rapidly as an academic discipline and came to be increasingly recognized as a significant scientific field. In 1968, Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, celebrated its 300th anniversary and donated a sum of money to the Nobel Foundation to be used to set up a new award in the field of economic sciences. The following year, 1969, the Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded for the first time. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is required to select the economics laureate in the same way as it does for the science Nobel Prizes. The first laureates for the Economics Prize were Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch, for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes. The board of the Nobel Foundation decided that after this addition, it would allow no further new prizes. The Prize in Economic Sciences is often referred to as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, and it is not one of the original prizes established by Nobel's will. The cost of the Economic Sciences prize of 16.5 million kronor is paid by the Sveriges Riksbank. The prize has been awarded annually since 1969, with the exception of extraordinary circumstances such as war. The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields, and the addition of the Economics Prize has expanded the scope of the awards to include social sciences.
The Selection Process and Secrecy
The award process is similar for all of the Nobel Prizes, the main difference being who can make nominations for each of them. Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee to about 3,000 individuals, usually in September the year before the prizes are awarded. These individuals are generally prominent academics working in a relevant area. Regarding the Peace Prize, inquiries are also sent to governments, former Peace Prize laureates, and current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The deadline for the return of the nomination forms is the 31st of January of the year of the award. The Nobel Committee nominates about 300 potential laureates from these forms and additional names. The nominees are not publicly named, nor are they told that they are being considered for the prize. All nomination records for a prize are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize. The Nobel Committee then prepares a report reflecting the advice of experts in the relevant fields. This, along with the list of preliminary candidates, is submitted to the prize-awarding institutions. There are four awarding institutions for the six prizes awarded: the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for Chemistry, Physics, and Economics; the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for Physiology or Medicine; the Swedish Academy for Literature; and the Norwegian Nobel Committee for Peace. The institutions meet to choose the laureate or laureates in each field by a majority vote. Their decision, which cannot be appealed, is announced immediately after the vote. A maximum of three laureates and two different works may be selected per award. Except for the Peace Prize, which can be awarded to institutions, the awards can only be given to individuals. The winners are announced by the awarding institutions during the first two weeks of October.
Ceremonies, Medals, and Controversies
Except for the Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on the 10th of December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The recipients' lectures are normally held in the days prior to the award ceremony. The Peace Prize and its recipients' lectures are presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, usually on the 10th of December. The award ceremonies and the associated banquets are typically major international events. The Prizes awarded in Sweden's ceremonies are held at the Stockholm Concert Hall, with the Nobel banquet following immediately at Stockholm City Hall. The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony has been held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute from 1905 to 1946, at the auditorium of the University of Oslo from 1947 to 1989, and at Oslo City Hall from 1990 to the present. The highlight of the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm occurs when each Nobel laureate steps forward to receive the prize from the hands of the King of Sweden. In Oslo, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize in the presence of the King of Norway and the Norwegian royal family. The Nobel Foundation announced on the 30th of May 2012 that it had awarded the contract for the production of the five Swedish Nobel Prize medals to Svenska Medalj AB. Between 1902 and 2010, the Nobel Prize medals were minted by Myntverket, which ceased operations in 2011 after 107 years. In 2011, the Mint of Norway, located in Kongsberg, made the medals. The Nobel Prize medals are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation. Each medal features an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile on the obverse. The medals for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature have identical obverses, showing the image of Alfred Nobel and the years of his birth and death. Nobel's portrait also appears on the obverse of the Peace Prize medal and the medal for the Economics Prize, but with a slightly different design. The image on the reverse of a medal varies according to the institution awarding the prize. The reverse sides of the medals for chemistry and physics share the same design. All medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold. Since then, they have been struck in 18 carat green gold plated with 24 carat gold. The weight of each medal varies with the value of gold, but averages about 185 grams for each medal. The diameter is 66 millimeters and the thickness varies between 2.5 and 3.5 millimeters. Because of the high value of their gold content and tendency to be on public display, Nobel medals are subject to medal theft.
Omissions, Refusals, and Legacy
The Nobel Prizes have faced numerous controversies and omissions throughout their history. Among the most criticized Nobel Peace Prizes was the one awarded to Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ in 1973, which led to the resignation of two Norwegian Nobel Committee members. Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin received the Peace Prize in 1994 for their efforts in making peace between Israel and Palestine, but the award was immediately denounced by one of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members who resigned. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Peace Prize in 1991, but in 2015, when she came into power in Myanmar, she was criticized for being silent on human rights violations under her rule and especially over the Rohingya genocide. Two laureates have voluntarily declined the Nobel Prize. In 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Literature Prize, but refused, stating that a writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution. Lê Đức Thọ, chosen for the 1973 Peace Prize for his role in the Paris Peace Accords, declined, stating that there was no actual peace in Vietnam. Boris Pasternak declined his prize for literature due to fear of what the Soviet Union government might do if he traveled to Stockholm to accept his prize. Mohandas Gandhi, an icon of nonviolence in the 20th century, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947, and a few days before he was assassinated on the 30th of January 1948, but he was never awarded the prize. In 1948, the year of Gandhi's death, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to make no award that year on the grounds that there was no suitable living candidate. In 1989, this omission was publicly regretted, when the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize, the chairman of the committee said that it was in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi. The Nobel Prizes have also been criticized for their Eurocentrism, especially for the Literature Prize, and for overlooking women and minority groups. Out of 210 laureates in Physics, 181 in Chemistry and 216 in Medicine between 1901 and 2018, there were only three female laureates in physics, five in chemistry and 12 in medicine. Despite these factors, Marie Curie is to date the only person awarded Nobel Prizes in two different sciences, and Malala Yousafzai is the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Prizes remain a symbol of scientific or literary achievement that is recognizable worldwide, often depicted in fiction and television shows, and have inspired the creation of the Nobel Symphony and the Planet of Alfred Nobel statue in Dnipro, Ukraine.