The Nobel Prizes are awards that are given each year for special things that people or groups of people have achieved. They are awarded in six areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics.

The prizes come from a fund that was created by the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. He wanted to use some of his money to help make the world a better place to live.

Many organizations, chosen by Alfred Nobel himself, determine who receives the prizes. Each award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a lot of money. Prizes can only be given to individuals of all races, countries and religions. Only the Peace Prize can also be given to a group.

The first Nobel Prizes were handed out on December 10, 1901 - five years after Alfred Nobel’s death. Nobel was a chemist, engineer and inventor whose most famous invention , dynamite, made him a rich man. Although he gave the world such a deadly weapon, Nobel was always against wars and violence. He therefore left a lot of money that was to go to those who did a lot for mankind.

Officials at first handed out only five prizes a year. The prize for economics was first awarded in 1969. In some years prizes have not been awarded because there were no worthy candidates

All prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, only the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

 

Famous Nobel Prize Winners
 

Year

Field

Winner

Country

1901

Physics

Wilhelm Röntgen

Germany

1921

Physics

Albert Einstein

Germany

1945

Medicine

Sir Alexander Fleming

Great Britain

1954

Literature

Ernest Hemingway

USA

1972

Literature

Heinrich Böll

Germany

1973

Medicine

Konrad Lorenz

Austria

1977

Peace

Amnesty International

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1993

Peace

Nelson Mandela

South Africa