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Nobel Prize
- Nobel Prize is a prestigious prize awarded separately in six different fields “to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.
- Originally, the prize was awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
- Later in 1968, a sixth prize was added in the field of economic sciences.
- In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Sir Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.
Background: Nobel Prize
- Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist most famously known for the invention of dynamite.
- In his will, he bequeathed all of his “remaining realisable assets” to be used to establish five prizes which became known as “Nobel Prizes.
- Nobel Prizes were first awarded in 1901.
- Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously. However, if a person is awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, the prize is presented.
Who selects the Nobel Laureates?
- In his last will and testament, Alfred Nobel specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established:
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry,
- Karolinska Institutet for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,
- Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and
- A committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament for the Nobel Peace Prize.
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was given the task to select the Laureates in Economic Sciences starting in 1969.
Award Ceremony
- Except for the Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on 10 December (the anniversary of Nobel’s death).
- The Peace Prize is presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, usually on 10 December.