Among the discoveries whose authors were awarded the Nobel Prize are x-rays, penicillin and the hadron collider. Among the Nobel Peace Prize winners is Nelson Mandela, 14th Dalai Lama. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Selma Lagerlöf, Ernest Hemingway are just some of the outstanding writers who have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (most recently she became one of the Nobel Prize winners). The award has been awarded since 1901 in five categories: in physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine, in literature, as well as for achievements in the field of peacekeeping. The solemn ceremony of awarding the prize takes place annually on the same day - December 10th. Laureates in the first five nominations come to the capital of Sweden from all over the world in order to receive a gold medal and a cash prize from their hands.

After the ceremony, a magnificent banquet awaits them in the city hall, where they are invited, in addition to the laureates and their families, royalty, the Prime Minister and representatives of Parliament and a number of high-ranking guests from different countries. The Nobel Peace Prize, however, is not awarded in Stockholm, but at the Opera House in Oslo on the same day.

The legacy of Alfred Nobel

The Nobel Prize is the property of the Swedish scientist, inventor and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel (1833-1896). It was he who bequeathed all his fortune to the creation of a fund, the funds from which should be awarded to those who during the past year made a special contribution to the history of mankind. At the same time, Nobel insisted that this award be given to outstanding scientists, writers and public figures regardless of their country of origin.

Inventor, philosopher, entrepreneur

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, the son of the inventor and industrialist Emmanuel Nobel, whose indefatigable energy and entrepreneurial ambitions later brought the Nobel family to St. Petersburg. There, Nobel's father worked on the development of torpedoes, and soon became interested in experiments to create explosives. The son of Emmanuel Nobel, Alfred, soon became interested in these experiments. Already at the age of 17, he declared himself as a gifted chemist. By the way, Alfred Nobel did not graduate from higher educational institutions However, he received an excellent education thanks to the private tutors his father found for him. He subsequently studied chemistry in Paris and also in the United States. By the end of his life, he was the owner of 355 patents for various inventions. Nobel managed to live and work, in addition to his native Sweden, in Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy. He was fluent in five languages: Russian, English, German, French and Swedish. In addition, he was a great admirer of literature, wrote poetry and composed plays.

Laureates 2019

Chemistry

John B. Goodenoff, Germany
M. Stanley Whittingham, UK
Akira Yoshino, Japan

"for the development of lithium-ion batteries."

Literature

In 2019, the winners of two Nobel Prizes in Literature were announced at once: for 2019, as well as for 2018 (in 2018, the Nobel Prize in Literature was not awarded).

Olga Tokarczuk, Poland
Peter Handke, Austria

Physics

James Peebles, Canada
Michel Mayo, Switzerland
Didier Queloz, Switzerland

"for the discovery of an exoplanet in orbit around a sun-like star."

Medicine and physiology

William Kalin, USA
Peter Ratcliffe, UK
Gregg Semenza, USA

"For his research into how cells sense and adapt to oxygen deprivation."

Nobel Peace Prize

Abiy Ahmed Ali, Ethiopia

"For his efforts to resolve the border conflict with Eritrea."

Alfred Nobel Memorial Economic Prize

Abhijit Banerjee, India
Esther Duflo, France
Michael Kremer, USA

"For his experimental approach to eradicating global poverty."

Alfred Nobel. Photo: The Nobel Foundation

The Godfather of Dynamite

His name is primarily associated with the invention of dynamite, a powerful explosive that began to be actively used in construction and the military industry during the life of Nobel. This invention, backed by Alfred Nobel, became one of the engines of the industrial age. A certain paradox lies in the fact that Nobel, having contributed to the invention of explosives and modern species weapons, while he was a pacifist and recklessly believed that the creation of powerful weapons would inevitably lead to the rejection of weapons by mankind. Many believe that Nobel therefore bequeathed his entire fortune to the establishment of the prize, as he was burdened by his involvement in deadly inventions and wanted to rehabilitate his name after death.

Why in Norway?

In his will, Nobel insisted that the Peace Prize be awarded in Oslo, however, he did not leave any explanation why it was there. Someone even tried to suggest that he chose Norway because he admired the talent of the Norwegian poet Bjørnesterne Bjornson (who, by the way, later won the Nobel Prize in Literature), but there are still no serious arguments in favor of this version.

In 1905, the Austrian Baroness Bertha von Suttner became the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, receiving the award in recognition of her services to the peace movement in Austria and Germany. In addition, Berta was well acquainted with Nobel, they kept a heartfelt correspondence until the end of Alfred's life. It is known that it was she who inspired the inventor to ensure that the Nobel Prize was awarded in this nomination as well.

Later, Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Martin Luther King (1964), Mother Teresa (1979) became laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1993 the prize was divided into two: Nelson Mandela and Frederick Willem de Klerk were noted by her for overthrowing the apartheid regime in the South Africa.

54 women

In more than a century of history of the Nobel Prize - from 1901 to 2019 - women have become its laureates 54 times. Marie Curie was awarded twice - in physics in 1903, and in chemistry in 1911.

In total, in the entire history of the award, one can count:

17 Women Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
15 Women Nobel Prize Winners in Literature
12 - in medicine and physiology
5 - in chemistry
3 - in physics
2 - Economic Prize in memory of Alfred Nobel.

In total, from 1901 to 2019, about 950 individuals and organizations have become Nobel Prize winners. To be more precise, 923 prizes were awarded to individuals, 27 to organizations (some received the Nobel Prize several times).

Rejected Nobel Prize

Among the laureates who refused honorary award and never appeared in the Stockholm City Hall in order to receive the coveted prize - the writer Jean-Paul Sartre and Boris Pasternak. The first neglected the prize because, on principle, he refused any form of public recognition of his talent, and the second was forced to reject it under pressure from the Soviet government.

Nobel Prize in Literature 2015 Svetlana Aleksievich. Photo: TT

Who selects candidates and how?

Applicants for the Nobel Prizes are selected and considered by several scientific institutions. Namely:

Behind Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences the right to award the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry is secured, and the winner of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics is also chosen there. The Academy of Sciences was founded in 1739 as an independent organization designed to develop science and promote practical application discoveries. At present, the Academy of Sciences has 450 Swedish and 175 foreign members.

Swedish Academy- a separate organization responsible for the selection of candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Founded in 1786, consists of 18 members who are elected for life.

Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute annually awards the Nobel Prize to those who have made significant discoveries in the field of medicine and physiology. The Karolinska Institute is the most respected scientific medical institution in Sweden, and the scientific community abroad also respects it. Applications for the Nobel Prize in Medicine are studied by 50 professors at the Karolinska Institute, who also choose the winners.

Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for presenting the Peace Prize - it is awarded to those who have made a significant contribution to "strengthening the brotherhood among peoples, disarming armies and promoting the ideas of peace." The Norwegian Committee was founded in 1897 and consists of five members appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

The deadline for submitting information about candidates to the Nobel Committee is always the same - January 31. Every year, the list of candidates for the prize in the field of literature, physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, as well as economics, established by the Swedish State Bank in 1968 in memory of Alfred Nobel, contains from 250 to 300 names, which can be made public only after 50 years.

Starting February 1, the Committee and a number of other institutions will launch a complex and shrouded in mystery process to select applications and determine laureates. During the second week of October, the names of the laureates are announced in strict order, one per day, starting with the Nobel Prize in Medicine winner on Monday and ending with the Peace Prize winner on Friday. The winner of the Alfred Nobel Prize in Economics will be announced the following Monday. As a rule, the laureates themselves learn about the awarding of the prize a few minutes before the start of the official press conferences.

The economics prize is not a Nobel

It is worth clarifying that the prize in economics, which is often considered a Nobel Prize, is actually not such, since Alfred Nobel himself had nothing to do with its establishment. This award is for achievements in the field of economics in memory of Alfred Nobel, which has been awarded by the Swedish Central Bank since 1968, approximately according to the same principles as the Nobel Prizes.

So why is there no prize in mathematics? ..

The story that the Nobel Prize in mathematics is not awarded because Alfred Nobel allegedly ran away from his wife with a mathematics teacher, in fact, is nothing more than a delusion. The fact is that Nobel was never married at all. According to Nobel's will, the prize should be awarded to those who made a discovery or invention that brought obvious benefits to all mankind. Thus, mathematics was excluded from the outset as an abstract science.

What is the Nobel Prize for?

Each laureate is awarded a gold medal with a recognizable silhouette of Alfred Nobel, a diploma and a cash prize, the exact amount of which is not known, but according to existing data, it is about 1 million dollars or 8 million Swedish kronor. The amount may vary from year to year, and also depending on how many laureates share the award in one nomination.

Banquet for all banquets

The Nobel Banquet is a grandiose event that solemnly takes place annually on December 10 in the Blue Hall in the Stockholm City Hall in the presence of 1300 guests. To say that they are preparing thoroughly for this banquet means to say nothing. Hundreds of chefs working miracles in the kitchen, waiters and service staff specially trained in how to welcome high-ranking guests from all over the world - every little thing is strictly monitored here so that the celebration goes smoothly. Each laureate can bring 14 guests to the banquet, in addition to spouses and partners. The banquet is always attended by one of the representatives of the Alfred Nobel family, as well as The Royal Family Sweden.

- international annual awards for outstanding Scientific research, revolutionary inventions or major contributions to culture or society., named after the founder (Alfred Bernhard Nobel) , Swedish chemical engineer, inventor and industrialist.

The Nobel Prize is awarded annually for achievements in the following areas of human activity:

• Physics - since 1901, Sweden;
• Chemistry - since 1901, Sweden;
• Medicine and physiology - since 1901, Sweden;
• Literature - since 1901, Sweden;
• Protection of the world - since 1901, Norway.
• Economics - since 1969, Sweden;

https://news.mail.ru/society/2945723/

Prizes are awarded according to Nobel's will:

• Organizers: Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm (for physics, chemistry, economics), Royal Institute of Medicine and Surgery in Stockholm (for physiology or medicine) and Swedish Academy in Stockholm (for literature); in Norway, the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, awards the Nobel Prize for peace-building activities.
• Nobel Prizes are awarded to candidates regardless of their race, nationality, gender or creed for latest achievements and for earlier works if their significance became apparent later.
• All Nobel Prizes, except for the Peace Prize, can only be awarded to individuals and only once. As an exception, the Nobel Prizes were awarded twice to M. Sklodowska-Curie (in 1903 and 1911), L. Pauling (in 1954 and 1962) and J. Bardin (in 1956 and 1972). As a rule, Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously.
• The right to nominate candidates for the prize is used only by private individuals, the circle of which is determined by the regulation on each type of Nobel Prize. Proposals for nominations are sent by February 1 to the respective six committees.
• Discussion of candidates and voting are held in strict secrecy, disagreements on candidates are not recorded in the minutes of the meetings. Only the decision and its brief motivation are published in the press (no motivation is given for peace prizes). Decisions to award awards are not subject to appeal or cancellation.
• Solemn Nobel Prize ceremonies are held in Stockholm and Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
• By regulation, the Nobel laureate must, within six months of receiving the prize, give the Nobel Memorial Lecture (a popular lecture on the subject of his work), usually in Stockholm or Oslo. The lecture is then published by the Nobel Foundation in a special volume.

Nobel Prize Winners

Nobel Prize winners will be determined by areas of achievement:

• Peace Prize
• Literature Prize
• Physics Prize
• Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• Chemistry Prize
• Economics Prize

Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is an annual award given by the Nobel Foundation for achievements in the field of literature. The Literature Prize has been awarded since 1901. The first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the French poet and essayist René François Armand Prudhomme "for outstanding literary virtues, especially for high idealism, artistic excellence, and also for the extraordinary combination of sincerity and talent, as evidenced by his books."

From 1901 to the present, 107 prizes have been awarded. During these years, the prize was not awarded and was not awarded only 7 times: in 1914, 1918, 1935 and in the period from 1940 to 1943.

Nobel Prize in Physics

The Nobel Prize in Physics is an annual prize awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Established by Alfred Nobel in 1895. The first Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded in 1901 to the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen "in recognition of the extraordinary merits to science, expressed in the discovery of remarkable rays, subsequently named after him."
Since 1901, 201 Nobel Prizes in physics have been awarded. 200 people became laureates of the prize in physics.
The prize in physics was not awarded only six times - in 1916, 1931, 1934, 1940, 1941 and 1942.

What year was the Nobel Prize established?

After his death, Alfred Nobel bequeathed

« ... The income from investments should belong to the fund, which will distribute them annually in the form of bonuses to those who during the previous year have brought the greatest benefit to mankind ... The indicated percentages must be divided into five equal parts, which are intended: one part - to the one who makes the most important discovery or an invention in the field of physics; the other to the one who makes the most important discovery or improvement in the field of chemistry; the third - to the one who will make the most important discovery in the field of physiology or medicine; the fourth - to the one who will create the most outstanding literary work of an idealistic direction; fifth, the one who has made the most significant contribution to the rallying of nations, the abolition of slavery or the reduction of the existing armies and the promotion of peace congresses ... My particular desire is that the nationality of candidates should not be taken into account in awarding prizes ...»

On April 26, 1897 A. Nobel's will was approved by the Storting of Norway. The executors of Nobel's will, secretary Ragnar Sulman and lawyer Rudolf Lilekvist, organized the Nobel Foundation to take care of the execution of his will and organize the presentation of the prize.

Albert Einstein Nobel Prize 1921

He was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Physics, but the members of the Nobel Committee for a long time did not dare to award the prize to the author of such a revolutionary theory as the theory of relativity.

Committee member A. Gullstrand, laureate of the 1911 Physiology or Medicine Prize, believed that the theory of relativity would not stand the test of time.

But in 1922, the Nobel Prize for 1921 was awarded to Einstein for the theory of the photoelectric effect, that is, for the most indisputable and well-tested work in the experiment; however, the text of the decision contained a neutral addition: "and for other work in the field of theoretical physics."

Chemist, engineer and inventor Alfred Nobel made his fortune primarily through the invention of dynamite and other explosives. At one time, Nobel became one of the richest on the planet.

In total, Nobel owned 355 inventions.

At the same time, the fame that the scientist enjoyed cannot be called good. In 1888 his brother Ludwig died. However, by mistake, journalists wrote in the newspapers about Alfred Nobel himself. Thus one day he read his own obituary in the press, entitled "Death Dealer Is Dead." This incident made the inventor think about what kind of memory he will remain in future generations. And Alfred Nobel changed his will.

The new will of Alfred Nobel offended the relatives of the inventor, who ended up with nothing.

A new will was read out to the millionaire in 1897.

According to this paper, all movable and immovable property of Nobel was to be converted into capital, which, in turn, should be placed in a reliable bank. The income from this capital should be annually divided into five equal parts and handed over in the form of scientists who have made the most significant discoveries in the field of physics, chemistry, medicine; writers who created literary works; and also to those who have made the most significant contribution "to the rallying of nations, the abolition of slavery or the reduction of the size of existing armies and the promotion of peace congresses" (Peace Prize).

First laureates

Traditionally, the first award is given in the field of medicine and physiology. So the very first Nobel laureate in 1901 was the German bacteriologist Emil Adolf von Behring, who was developing a vaccine against diphtheria.

Next, the laureate in physics receives the prize. Wilhelm Roentgen was the first to receive this award for the discovery of the rays named after him.

The first Nobel Prize winner in chemistry was Jacob van't Hoff, who investigated the laws of thermodynamics for various solutions.

The first writer to be awarded this high award became René Sully-Prudhomme.

The Peace Prize is awarded last. In 1901 it was divided between Jean Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy. Swiss humanist Dunant is the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Frenchman Frederic Passy is the leader of the movement for peace in Europe.

The Nobel Prizes are awarded by the four Swedish Nobel Committees, which are special bodies of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Karolinska Institute ( medical university) and the Swedish (Writing) Academy. The Nobel Prize in Economics, or more specifically the "Swedish State Bank Prize for economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel” is awarded by the Bank of Sweden. In Stockholm, the Nobel Prizes are awarded in physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine, literature, and economics.

The Fifth Nobel Committee awards peace prizes, is located in the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) and is a division of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. The amount of the prize fluctuates depending on the income of the Nobel Foundation and was reduced to $1.1 million in 2012.
The Swedish Academy is located in the Old Town in the building of the former Stockholm Stock Exchange. It is here that decisions are made on the awarding of the Nobel Prizes in Literature. This miniature Academy has only 18 life members. The building houses a museum to the inventor of dynamite Alfred Nobel, who established the most prestigious prize in the world. Nobel spent his childhood in Russia, knew five languages.

A fragment of the main entrance to the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the Nobel Prize ceremony is being held. Sculptural composition by Carl Milles "Orpheus".


Photo by Vladimir Dergachev

In this hall, in 2000, the last laureate from Russia, physicist Academician Zhores Alferov, received the Nobel Prize, now a State Duma deputy on the list of the Communist Party Russian Federation.


Photo: EPA

Hotel where Nobel laureates stay


Photo by Anton Dergachev

After the Nobel Prize ceremony, a banquet is held in the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall, attended by the royal family and a thousand guests. If you weren't invited to the banquet, don't be discouraged. You can order the "Nobel menu" in the town hall restaurant at a convenient time for you, for only about 200 euros.
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The Nobel Peace Prizes are awarded and presented in Oslo, Norway. The first Nobel Peace Prize in the twenty-first century was awarded to the accompaniment of American rockets and bombs exploding on Afghan soil, the United Nations and its Secretary General. If in the West this event was regarded as a triumph of democracy, then in the Muslim world the assessments were diametrically opposed. Even in the Christian East (Moscow) the words were heard: "Peace Prize, posthumously." An organization created to maintain international security, in last years withdrew from the performance of the main functions. The UN often appears on the Eurasian continent as an extra on American geopolitics.
The award ceremony takes place in the Oslo City Hall. AT common days Anyone can enter the town hall. It is only in the "city halls" of corrupt countries that you have to protect the authorities from the people.
Here before the collapse Soviet Union in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev, the petrel of universal values, received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Photo by Vladimir Dergachev

Nobel Prizes are awarded in the West and primarily reflect the preferences of Western Christian civilization. Therefore, the frequent indignations of the “brothers of the Slavs” that the Nobel Peace Prizes are awarded to the wrong people are groundless. In the Soviet Union there was the International Lenin Prize. In democratic Russia, there are hardly enough funds and resources to support home-grown oligarchs and show business, so there is no similar international peace award. Perhaps an alternative to the Nobel Prize in the near future will be the Chinese Confucius Peace Prize. The award was established in 2010 at the initiative of a Chinese businessman, and is awarded to fighters for peace according to the East. In 2011, Vladimir Putin was awarded the prize. Thus, both West and East noted the shyness of Russian leaders (Gorbachev and Putin) between West and East.

Initially, the Nobel Prize was the annual profit of the Alfred Nobel Foundation, which was distributed among the laureates in five areas. Consequently, each year the size of the Nobel Prize was different.

Now no one can say for sure how much the possessions of Alfred Nobel himself were valued, since family assets were closely mixed in various investments in different countries peace. After 5 years of work on the establishment of the Nobel Foundation, its volume was estimated at 31,587,202 SEK.

In 1901, the monetary equivalent of the first Nobel Prize was 150,782 crowns. It is easy to calculate that a little more than 750,000 kroons were spent on just 5 nominations for awards, that is, a little more than 2.38 percent of all amounts at the disposal of the fund.

The real value of the Nobel Prize is also difficult to calculate due to the change in the purchasing power of the Swedish krona. However, the Nobel Committee gives indicative figures. Thus, 150,782 kroons awarded in 1901, at the rate of 2011, correspond to 8,123,951 kroons, or more than 900 thousand euros.

From year to year, the part of the fund that went to pay bonuses changed. Apparently, this is due to the different profitability of the investments of the Alfred Nobel fund, but it is impossible to say for sure, because the fund began to publish financial statements only in 1975, after being exempted from taxes.

And the Swedish krona itself was valued differently in different years. It is considered the most unfortunate year for Nobel laureates was 1919. This year the amount of the award was 133,127 kroons, which, against the background of the amount of 1901, does not look so bad. But it was a bad year for the Swedish krona, and in 2011 prices, the 1919 premium is valued at 2,254,284 kroner today. The fattest year for the Nobel Prize was 2001. Marking the beginning of the new millennium, the members of the Nobel Committee decided to make the amount of payments fixed. And since 2001, the size of the Nobel Prize has been 10 million Swedish kronor. However, no one canceled the inflation of the Swedish krona. Therefore, it was most profitable in terms of money to receive the Nobel Prize in 2001.

It is impossible to say exactly how much money the Nobel Foundation manages today. According to 2007 estimates, this is 3.62 billion kroons. At the same time, the rules for distributing amounts between the laureates have also changed. Since the Nobel Foundation regularly receives donations, since 1980 the amounts have been decoupled from the foundation's actual profits and, for convenience, have been adjusted to the inflation rate of the Swedish krona. In 1981, the premium amounted to 1 million crowns, in 1986 - 2 million, in 1989 - 3 million, in 1990 - 4 million, in 1991 - 6 million crowns. In the mid-1990s, the premium grew to 7 million, by the end it reached 9 million. And from 2001 to this day, the amount of the award is exactly 10 million Swedish kronor. It is possible that the amounts will be adjusted again in the future. If not, then every year it will become less and less profitable to receive the Nobel Prize.