Nobel Prizes & Renowned Laureates
The Nobel Prizes were established by the 1895 will of Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, and were first awarded in 1901 across Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established in 1968. Prominent historical laureates include Rabindranath Tagore, the first Asian Nobel laureate (Literature, 1913), and Sir C.V. Raman, who received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the Raman Effect. The International Committee of the Red Cross is the most decorated organization, having received three Nobel Peace Prizes (1917, 1944, 1963), while Linus Pauling remains the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes.
Key Concepts & Examination Highlights
- The first Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901, the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in Stockholm and Oslo.
- Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European and first Indian to win a Nobel Prize when awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for Gitanjali.
- Sir C.V. Raman received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating the inelastic scattering of light, known as the Raman Effect.