Ballistite is a smokeless propellant made from two high explosives , nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine . It was developed and patented by Alfred Nobel in the late 19th century.
80-606: A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are six awarding committees from four institutions, one for each Nobel Prize. Five of these committees are working bodies within three prize awarding institutions: the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (for prizes in physics , chemistry , and economic sciences), the Karolinska Institute (for prize in physiology or medicine ) and
160-711: A cerebral haemorrhage . He was 63 years old. Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime. He composed the last over a year before he died, signing it at the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895. To widespread astonishment, Nobel's last will specified that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in physics , chemistry , physiology or medicine , literature , and peace . Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets, 31 million SEK (c. US$ 186 million, €150 million in 2008), to establish
240-464: A French newspaper. It was Alfred's brother Ludvig who had died; the obituary was eight years premature. The article disconcerted Nobel and made him apprehensive about how he would be remembered. This inspired him to change his will . Historians have been unable to verify this story and some dismiss the story as a myth. On 10 December 1896, Alfred Nobel died in his villa in San Remo, Italy , from
320-639: A Victorian poet. The first Physiology or Medicine Prize went to the German physiologist and microbiologist Emil von Behring . During the 1890s, von Behring developed an antitoxin to treat diphtheria , which until then had been causing thousands of deaths each year. The first Nobel Peace Prize went to the Swiss Jean Henri Dunant for his role in founding the International Red Cross Movement and initiating
400-402: A consequence of his patent claims, Nobel was eventually involved in a patent infringement lawsuit over cordite. Nobel amassed a fortune during his lifetime, with most of his wealth coming from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous. There is a popular story about how, in 1888, Nobel was astonished to read his own obituary , titled "The Merchant of Death Is Dead", in
480-522: A factory at Avigliana , Turin. The Italian Army swiftly replaced their M1870 and M1870/87 rifles, which used black powder cartridges, by the new M1890 Vetterli, which used ballistite cartridges. As Italy was a competing great power to France, this was not received well by the French press and the public. The newspapers accused Nobel of industrial espionage, by spying on Paul Vieille (the inventor of Poudre B), and "high treason against France". Following
560-532: A foundation established by Alfred Nobel would reward those who serve humanity. The Nobel Prize was funded by Alfred Nobel's personal fortune. According to the official sources, Alfred Nobel bequeathed most of his fortune to the Nobel Foundation that now forms the economic base of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Foundation was founded as a private organisation on 29 June 1900. Its function is to manage
640-610: A police investigation, he was refused permission to conduct any more research, or to manufacture explosives in France. He therefore moved to San Remo in Italy, in 1891, where he spent the last five years of his life. Rifle grenades such as the ENERGA and Spigot mortar rounds used in the PIAT used Ballistite. Ballistite is still manufactured as a solid fuel rocket propellant, although
720-712: A prize if their impact is realised after the discoverers have died. 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 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 10 December. The award ceremonies and
800-557: A solid funding base for the prizes and the administrative activities. The Nobel Foundation is exempt from all taxes in Sweden (since 1946) and from investment taxes in the United States (since 1953). Since the 1980s, the foundation's investments have become more profitable and as of 31 December 2007, the assets controlled by the Nobel Foundation amounted to 3.628 billion Swedish kronor (c. US$ 560 million). According to
880-502: A solvent, it was extruded as spaghetti-like rods initially called "cord powder" or "the committee's modification of ballistite", but this was soon abbreviated to cordite . After unsuccessful negotiations, in 1893, Nobel sued Abel and Dewar over patent infringement and lost the case. It then went to the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in 1895 where he also lost the two appeals and
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#1732765808958960-828: Is 11,000,000 kr , amounting to approximately US$ 1,035,000 . A prize may not be shared among more than three individuals, although the Nobel Peace Prize can be awarded to organisations of more than three people. Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously , but if a person is awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, the prize is presented. The Nobel Prizes, beginning in 1901, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, beginning in 1969, have been awarded 609 times to 975 people and 25 organisations. Five individuals and two organisations have received more than one Nobel Prize. Alfred Nobel
1040-481: Is also frequently included, as it is also administered by the Nobel Foundation . The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards available in their respective fields. The prize ceremonies take place annually. Each recipient, known as a laureate , receives a green gold medal plated with 24 karat gold, a diploma , and a monetary award. As of 2023, the Nobel Prize monetary award
1120-414: 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. Although posthumous nominations are not presently permitted, individuals who died in
1200-582: 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
1280-593: Is the Norwegian Nobel Committee , responsible for the Nobel Peace Prize . This committee has a different status since it is both the working body and the deciding body for its prize. Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( / n oʊ ˈ b ɛ l / noh- BEL ; Swedish : Nobelpriset [nʊˈbɛ̂lːˌpriːsɛt] ; Norwegian : Nobelprisen [nʊˈbɛ̀lːˌpriːsn̩] ) are five separate prizes awarded to those who, during
1360-715: The Economic Sciences prize of 16.5 Million kronor is paid by the Sveriges Riksbank . Once the Nobel Foundation and its guidelines were in place, the Nobel Committees began collecting nominations for the inaugural prizes. Subsequently, they sent a list of preliminary candidates to the prize-awarding institutions. The Nobel Committee's Physics Prize shortlist cited Wilhelm Röntgen 's discovery of X-rays and Philipp Lenard 's work on cathode rays . The Academy of Sciences selected Röntgen for
1440-823: The Rohingya genocide and calls were made to strip her of her Nobel Peace Prize. The award of the 2004 Literature Prize to Elfriede Jelinek drew a protest from a member of the Swedish Academy, Knut Ahnlund . Ahnlund resigned, alleging that the selection of Jelinek had caused "irreparable damage to all progressive forces, it has also confused the general view of literature as an art". He alleged that Jelinek's works were "a mass of text shovelled together without artistic structure". The 2009 Literature Prize to Herta Müller also generated criticism. According to The Washington Post , many US literary critics and professors were ignorant of her work. This made those critics feel
1520-622: The Swedish Academy (for prize in literature ). These Nobel Committees only propose laureates, while the final decision is taken in a larger assembly. This assembly is composed of the entire academies for the prizes in physics, chemistry, economic sciences and literature, as well as the 50 members of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for the prize in physiology or medicine. The sixth Nobel Committee
1600-550: The trustees . However, since 1995, all the members of the board have been chosen by the trustees, and the executive director and the deputy director appointed by the board itself. As well as the board, the Nobel Foundation is made up of the prize-awarding institutions (the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute, the Swedish Academy, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee ),
1680-551: The 1926 Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his purported discovery of a parasite that caused cancer. To avoid repeating this embarrassment, the awards increasingly recognised scientific discoveries that had withstood the test of time. According to Ralf Pettersson, former chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee for Physiology or Medicine, "the criterion 'the previous year' is interpreted by the Nobel Assembly as
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#17327658089581760-420: The 1980s, when the prize money was 880,000 SEK per prize (c. 2.6 million SEK altogether, US$ 350,000 today). In 2009, the monetary award was 10 million SEK (US$ 1.4 million). In June 2012, it was lowered to 8 million SEK. If two laureates share the prize in a category, the award grant is divided equally between the recipients. If there are three, the awarding committee has the option of dividing
1840-512: The 2022 Chemistry Prize for click chemistry . Two organisations have received the Peace Prize multiple times. The International Committee of the Red Cross received it three times: in 1917 and 1944 for its work during the world wars; and in 1963 during the year of its centenary. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been awarded the Peace Prize twice for assisting refugees: in 1954 and 1981. The Curie family has received
1920-586: The Geneva Convention, and jointly given to French pacifist Frédéric Passy , founder of the Peace League and active with Dunant in the Alliance for Order and Civilization. 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
2000-475: The King and Queen of Norway. In total, about 250 guests attend. According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, each laureate is required to give a public lecture on a subject related to the topic of their prize. The Nobel lecture as a rhetorical genre took decades to reach its current format. These lectures normally occur during Nobel Week (the week leading up to the award ceremony and banquet, which begins with
2080-526: 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
2160-435: The Nobel Peace Prize." Yasser Arafat , Shimon Peres , and Yitzhak Rabin received the Peace Prize in 1994 for their efforts in making peace between Israel and Palestine. Immediately after the award was announced, one of the five Norwegian Nobel Committee members denounced Arafat as a terrorist and resigned. Additional misgivings about Arafat were widely expressed in various newspapers. Another controversial Peace Prize
2240-668: 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 . At first, King Oscar II did not approve of awarding grand prizes to foreigners. After
2320-459: The North announced that Kissinger was not a peace-maker but the opposite, responsible for widening the war. Those hostile to the North and what they considered its deceptive practices during negotiations were deprived of a chance to criticise Lê Đức Thọ, as he declined the award. The satirist and musician Tom Lehrer has remarked that "political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded
2400-516: 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 it was 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
2480-405: The Norwegian Nobel Committee. The deadline for the return of the nomination forms is 31 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
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2560-602: The Physiology or Medicine Prize for his development of the prefrontal leucotomy . The previous year, Walter Freeman had developed a version of the procedure which was faster and easier to carry out. Due in part to the publicity surrounding the original procedure, Freeman's procedure was prescribed without due consideration or regard for modern medical ethics . Endorsed by such influential publications as The New England Journal of Medicine , leucotomy or "lobotomy" became so popular that about 5,000 lobotomies were performed in
2640-600: The Physiology or Medicine Prize in 1959; Kornberg's son Roger later received the Chemistry Prize in 2006. Arthur Schawlow received the 1981 Physics prize, and was married to the sister of 1964 Physics laureate Charles Townes . Two members of the Hodgkin family received Nobels in consecutive years: Sir Alan Lloyd Hodgkin shared in the Nobel for Physiology or Medicine in 1963, followed by Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin ,
2720-451: The United States in the three years immediately following Moniz's receipt of the Prize. Ballistite Alfred Nobel patented Ballistite in 1887 while he was living in Paris. His formulation was composed of 10% camphor and equal parts nitroglycerine and collodion . The camphor reacted with any acidic products of the chemical breakdown of the two explosives. This both stabilized
2800-646: 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 (1905–1946), at the auditorium of the University of Oslo (1947–1989), and at Oslo City Hall (1990–present). The highlight of
2880-827: The award ceremony in Sweden, a banquet is held in the Blue Hall at the Stockholm City Hall , which is attended by the Swedish Royal Family and around 1,300 guests. The Nobel Peace Prize banquet is held in Norway at the Oslo Grand Hotel after the award ceremony. Apart from the laureate, guests include the president of the Storting , on occasion the Swedish prime minister, and, since 2006,
2960-488: The award, and others saying he had not secured the achievements to yet merit such an accolade. Obama's award, along with the previous Peace Prizes for Jimmy Carter and Al Gore , also prompted accusations of a liberal bias. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded Peace Prize in 1993 however in 2015 when she came into power in Myanmar , she was criticized for being silent on human rights violation under her rule and especially over
3040-409: The decision to award Steinman the prize "was made in good faith", it would remain unchanged, and the prize would be awarded. Nobel's will provided for prizes to be awarded in recognition of discoveries made "during the preceding year". Early on, the awards usually recognised recent discoveries. However, some of those early discoveries were later discredited. For example, Johannes Fibiger was awarded
3120-471: The decisive factor that enabled the Nobel Prizes to be established". Another important task of the Nobel Foundation is to market the prizes internationally and to oversee informal administration related to the prizes. The foundation is not involved in the process of selecting the Nobel laureates . In many ways, the Nobel Foundation is similar to an investment company , in that it invests Nobel's money to create
3200-482: The diploma and medal. Even though Sweden was officially neutral during the Second World War, the prizes were awarded irregularly. In 1939, the Peace Prize was not awarded. No prize was awarded in any category from 1940 to 1942, due to the occupation of Norway by Germany . In the subsequent year, all prizes were awarded except those for literature and peace. During the occupation of Norway, three members of
3280-439: The explosive against further decomposition and prevented spontaneous explosions. However, camphor tends to evaporate over time, leaving a potentially unstable mixture. Nobel's patent specified that the nitrocellulose should be "of the well-known soluble kind". He offered to sell the rights of the new explosive to the French government, but they declined. Modern research shows that Vieille already discovered it in 1884-1885, about
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3360-478: The finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. In accordance with Nobel's will , the primary task of the foundation is to manage the fortune Nobel left. Robert and Ludvig Nobel were involved in the oil business in Azerbaijan , and according to Swedish historian E. Bargengren, who accessed the Nobel family archive , it was this "decision to allow withdrawal of Alfred's money from Baku that became
3440-555: The five Nobel Prizes. Owing to skepticism surrounding the will, it was not approved by the Storting in Norway until 26 April 1897. The executors of the will, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, formed the Nobel Foundation to take care of the fortune and to organise the awarding of prizes. Nobel's instructions named a Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize , the members of which were appointed shortly after
3520-477: The grant equally, or awarding one-half to one recipient and one-quarter to each of the others. It is common for recipients to donate prize money to benefit scientific, cultural, or humanitarian causes. Five people have received two Nobel Prizes. Marie Curie received the Physics Prize in 1903 for her work on radioactivity and the Chemistry Prize in 1911 for the isolation of pure radium , making her
3600-426: The holders. After the war, the gold was recovered from solution, and the medals re-cast. Nobel laureates receive a diploma directly from the hands of the King of Sweden, or in the case of the peace prize, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Each diploma is uniquely designed by the prize-awarding institutions for the laureates that receive them. The diploma contains a picture and text in Swedish which states
3680-514: The invention of the transistor and in 1972 for the theory of superconductivity . Frederick Sanger received the prize twice in Chemistry: in 1958 for determining the structure of the insulin molecule and in 1980 for inventing a method of determining base sequences in DNA. Karl Barry Sharpless was awarded the 2001 Chemistry Prize for his research into chirally catalysed oxidation reactions, and
3760-434: The laureates arriving in Stockholm and normally ends with the Nobel banquet), but this is not mandatory. The laureate is only obliged to give the lecture within six months of receiving the prize, but some have happened even later. For example, US President Theodore Roosevelt received the Peace Prize in 1906 but gave his lecture in 1910, after his term in office. The lectures are organised by the same association which selected
3840-547: The laureates. Military cemeteries in every corner of the world are silent testimony to the failure of national leaders to sanctify human life. The Nobel Foundation announced on 30 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 (the Swedish Mint), Sweden's oldest company, which ceased operations in 2011 after 107 years. In 2011,
3920-542: The less volatile but chemically similar diphenylamine is used instead of camphor. Meanwhile, a government committee in Great Britain, called the "Explosives Committee" and chaired by Sir Frederick Abel , monitored foreign developments in explosives. Abel and Sir James Dewar , who was also on the committee, jointly patented a modified form of ballistite in 1889. This consisted of 58% nitroglycerin by weight, 37% guncotton and 5% petroleum jelly . Using acetone as
4000-497: The months between their nomination and the decision of the prize committee were originally eligible to receive the prize. This has occurred twice: the 1931 Literature Prize awarded to Erik Axel Karlfeldt , and the 1961 Peace Prize awarded to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld . Since 1974, laureates must be thought alive at the time of the October announcement. There has been one laureate, William Vickrey , who in 1996 died after
4080-549: The most criticised Nobel Peace Prizes was the one awarded to Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ . This led to the resignation of two Norwegian Nobel Committee members. Kissinger and Thọ were awarded the prize for negotiating a ceasefire between North Vietnam and the United States in January 1973 during the Vietnam War . However, when the award was announced, both sides were still engaging in hostilities. Critics sympathetic to
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#17327658089584160-480: The most prizes, with four prizes awarded to five individual laureates. Marie Curie received the prizes in Physics (in 1903) and Chemistry (in 1911). Her husband, Pierre Curie , shared the 1903 Physics prize with her. Their daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie , received the Chemistry Prize in 1935 together with her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie . In addition, the husband of Marie Curie's second daughter, Henry Labouisse ,
4240-422: The name of the laureate and normally a citation of why they received the prize. None of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates has ever had a citation on their diplomas. The laureates are given a sum of money when they receive their prizes, in the form of a document confirming the amount awarded. The amount of prize money depends upon how much money the Nobel Foundation can award each year. The purse has increased since
4320-676: The obverse of the Peace Prize medal and the medal for the Economics Prize, but with a slightly different design. For instance, the laureate's name is engraved on the rim of the Economics medal. 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
4400-432: The only person to be awarded a Nobel Prize in two different sciences. Linus Pauling was awarded the 1954 Chemistry Prize for his research into the chemical bond and its application to the structure of complex substances. Pauling was also awarded the Peace Prize in 1962 for his activism against nuclear weapons, making him the only laureate of two unshared prizes. John Bardeen received the Physics Prize twice: in 1956 for
4480-492: The poet Sully Prudhomme for the first Nobel Prize in Literature. A group including 42 Swedish writers, artists, and literary critics protested against this decision, having expected Leo Tolstoy to be awarded. Some, including Burton Feldman , have criticised this prize because they consider Prudhomme a mediocre poet. Feldman's explanation is that most of the academy members preferred Victorian literature and thus selected
4560-533: The preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind, as established by the 1895 will of Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist Alfred Nobel , in the year before he died. Prizes were first awarded in 1901 by the Nobel Foundation . Nobel's will indicated that the awards should be granted in the fields of Physics , Chemistry , Physiology or Medicine , Literature , and Peace . A sixth prize for Economic Sciences , endowed by Sweden 's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank , and first presented in 1969,
4640-551: The prize (in Economics ) was announced but before it could be presented. On 3 October 2011, the laureates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine were announced; however, the committee was not aware that one of the laureates, Ralph M. Steinman , had died three days earlier. The committee was debating about Steinman's prize, since the rule is that the prize is not awarded posthumously. The committee later decided that as
4720-420: 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 institutions meet to choose the laureate or laureates in each field by a majority vote. Their decision, which cannot be appealed,
4800-450: The prize. In the last decades of the 19th century, many chemists had made significant contributions. Thus, with the Chemistry Prize, the academy "was chiefly faced with merely deciding the order in which these scientists should be awarded the prize". The academy received 20 nominations, eleven of them for Jacobus van 't Hoff . Van 't Hoff was awarded the prize for his contributions in chemical thermodynamics . The Swedish Academy chose
4880-412: The prizes were too Eurocentric. The 2019 Literature Prize to Peter Handke received heavy criticisms from various authors, such as Salman Rushdie and Hari Kunzru , and was condemned by the governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina , Kosovo , and Turkey , due to his history of Bosnian genocide denialism and his support for Slobodan Milošević . In 1949, the neurologist António Egas Moniz received
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#17327658089584960-517: The same time as his Poudre B , and noted its high flame temperatures leading to bore erosion. This led the French military to conclude it was unsuitable for military use (indeed, it was a problem for all the militaries which tried to use double- base propellants later). Nobel subsequently licensed the rights to the Italian government, which entered into a contract on 1 August 1889 to obtain 300,000 kg (660,000 lb) of Ballistite; and Nobel opened
5040-557: The statutes, the foundation consists of a board of five Swedish or Norwegian citizens, with its seat in Stockholm. The chairman of the board is appointed by the Swedish King in Council , with the other four members appointed by the trustees of the prize-awarding institutions . An Executive director is chosen from among the board members , a deputy director is appointed by the King in Council, and two deputies are appointed by
5120-561: The three members in exile, made sure that nominations were submitted for the Peace Prize and that the prize could be awarded once again. In 1968, Sweden's central bank Sveriges Riksbank celebrated its 300th anniversary by donating a large sum of money to the Nobel Foundation to be used to set up a prize in honour of Alfred Nobel. The following year, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
5200-414: The total annual cost was approximately 120 million kronor , with 50 million kronor as the prize money. Further costs to pay institutions and persons engaged in giving the prizes were 27.4 million kronor. The events during the Nobel week in Stockholm and Oslo cost 20.2 million kronor. The administration, Nobel symposium , and similar items had costs of 22.4 million kronor. The cost of
5280-466: The trustees of these institutions, and auditors . The capital of the Nobel Foundation today is invested 50% in shares , 20% bonds and 30% other investments (e.g. hedge funds or real estate ). The distribution can vary by 10 percent. At the beginning of 2008, 64% of the funds were invested mainly in American and European stocks, 20% in bonds, plus 12% in real estate and hedge funds. In 2011,
5360-714: The value of gold, but averages about 175 grams (0.386 lb) for each medal. The diameter is 66 millimetres (2.6 in) and the thickness varies between 5.2 millimetres (0.20 in) and 2.4 millimetres (0.094 in). Because of the high value of their gold content and tendency to be on public display, Nobel medals are subject to medal theft. During World War II, 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 himself) George de Hevesy dissolved them in aqua regia (nitro-hydrochloric acid), to prevent confiscation by Nazi Germany and to prevent legal problems for
5440-476: The wife of his first cousin, who won solo for Chemistry in 1964. Jan Tinbergen , who was awarded the first Economics Prize in 1969, was the brother of Nikolaas Tinbergen , who received the 1973 Physiology or Medicine Prize. Gunnar Myrdal , who was awarded the Economics Prize in 1974, was the husband of Alva Myrdal , Peace Prize laureate in 1982. Economics laureates Paul Samuelson (1970) and Kenneth Arrow (1972; shared) were brothers-in-law. Frits Zernike , who
5520-569: The will was approved in April 1897. Soon thereafter, the other prize-awarding organisations were designated. These were the Karolinska Institute on 7 June, the Swedish Academy on 9 June, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 11 June. 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 . According to his will and testament read in Stockholm on 30 December 1896,
5600-412: The year when the full impact of the discovery has become evident." The interval between the award and the accomplishment it recognises varies from discipline to discipline. The Literature Prize is typically awarded to recognise a cumulative lifetime body of work rather than a single achievement. The Peace Prize can also be awarded for a lifetime body of work. For example, 2008 laureate Martti Ahtisaari
5680-625: Was awarded for his work to resolve international conflicts. However, they can also be awarded for specific recent events. For instance, Kofi Annan was awarded the 2001 Peace Prize just four years after becoming the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Similarly Yasser Arafat , Yitzhak Rabin , and Shimon Peres received the 1994 award, about a year after they successfully concluded the Oslo Accords . A controversy
5760-417: Was awarded for the first time. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences became responsible for selecting laureates. 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 award process
5840-505: Was awarded the 1953 Physics Prize, was the great-uncle of 1999 Physics laureate Gerard 't Hooft . In 2019, married couple Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo were awarded the Economics Prize. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard was awarded the Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995, and her nephew Benjamin List received the Chemistry Prize in 2021. Sune Bergström was awarded the Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982, and his son Svante Pääbo
5920-655: Was awarded the same prize in 2022. Edwin McMillan , who shared the Prize in Chemistry in 1951, was the uncle of John Clauser , who was awarded the Prize in Physics in 2022. Among other criticisms, the Nobel Committees have been accused of having a political agenda, and of omitting more deserving candidates. They have also been accused of Eurocentrism , especially for the Literature Prize. Among
6000-422: Was awarded to Manne Siegbahn in 1924, followed by his son, Kai Siegbahn , in 1981. Hans von Euler-Chelpin , who received the Chemistry Prize in 1929, was the father of Ulf von Euler , who was awarded the Physiology or Medicine Prize in 1970. C. V. Raman was awarded the Physics Prize in 1930 and was the uncle of Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar , who was awarded the same prize in 1983. Arthur Kornberg received
6080-563: Was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm , Sweden, into a family of engineers. He was a chemist , engineer , and inventor . In 1894, Nobel purchased the Bofors iron and steel mill, which he made into a major armaments manufacturer . Nobel also invented ballistite . This invention was a precursor to many smokeless military explosives, especially the British smokeless powder cordite . As
6160-498: Was caused by awarding the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama during his first year as US president. Awards for physics, chemistry, and medicine are typically awarded once the achievement has been widely accepted. Sometimes, this takes decades – for example, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared the 1983 Physics Prize for his 1930s work on stellar structure and evolution. Not all scientists live long enough for their work to be recognised. Some discoveries can never be considered for
6240-406: Was that awarded to Barack Obama in 2009 . Nominations had closed only eleven days after Obama took office as President of the United States , but the actual evaluation occurred over the next eight months. Obama himself stated that he did not feel deserving of the award, or worthy of the company in which it would place him. Past Peace Prize laureates were divided, some saying that Obama deserved
6320-531: Was the director of UNICEF when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 on that organisation's behalf. Although no family matches the Curie family's record, there have been several with two laureates. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to the husband-and-wife team of Gerty Cori and Carl Ferdinand Cori in 1947, and to the husband-and-wife team of May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser in 2014 (along with John O'Keefe ). The Physics Prize in 1906
6400-423: Was won by J. J. Thomson for showing that electrons are particles, and in 1937 by his son, George Paget Thomson , for showing that they also have the properties of waves . William Henry Bragg and his son, William Lawrence Bragg , shared the Physics Prize in 1915 for inventing X-ray crystallography . Niels Bohr was awarded the Physics Prize in 1922, as was his son, Aage Bohr , in 1975. The Physics Prize
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