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NOBEL PRIZE

Background of Nobel Foundation

Alfred Bernhard Nobel: Nobel was born on October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. Nobel, whoinvented dynamite, endowed a $9 million fund in his will. The interest on this endowment was to be usedas awards for people whose work most benefited humanity. He wanted the profit from his invention to beused to reward human ingenuity. First awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize, is still the most honoured in theworld.

In 1842, Nobels family moved to St. Petesburg, Russia, where he obtained his education. He travelled

widely as a young man, becoming fluent in five languages. Nobel was interested in literature and wrotenovels, poetry and plays in his spare time. In the 1860s, he began experiments with nitroglycerin in hisfathers factory. He tried many ways to stabilise this highly volatile material. Nobel discovered that a mixof nitroglycerin and fine porous powder called kieselguhr was most effective. He named this mixture asdynamite and received a patent in 1867.

Background and Establishment of the Nobel Foundation : Alfred Nobel died on December 10, 1896. The

provisions of his will and their unusual purpose, as well as their partly incomplete form, attracted greatattention and soon led to skepticism and criticism, also aimed at the testator due to his international spirit.Only after several years of negotiations and often rather bitter conflicts and after various obstacles hadbeen circumvented or overcome, could the fundamental concepts presented in the will assume solid formwith the establishment of the Nobel Foundation.

On June, 1900, after series of alterations, suggestions, modifications, the statues of the newly createdlegatee, the Nobel Foundation, and special regulations for the Swedish Prize-Awarding Institutions werepromulgated by the King in Council (Oscar II). The same year as the political union between Sweden andNorway was dissolved in 1905, special regulations were adopted on April 10, 1905, by the NobelCommittee of the Storting (known since January 1, 1977 as the Norwegian Nobel Committee), theawarder of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Premises: To create a worthy framework around the prizes, the board decided at an early stage that itwould erect its own building in Stockholm, which would include a hall for the Prize Award Ceremony andbanquet as well as its own administrative offices. Ferdinand Boberg was selected as the architect. Hepresented an ambitious proposal for a Nobel Palace, which generated extensive publicity but also led todoubts and questions. On December 19, 1918, a building at Sturegatan, 14 was bought for this purpose.After years of renovation there, the Foundation finally left its cramped premises at Norrlandsgatan, 6 in1926, and moved to Sturegatan, 14, where the Foundation has been housed ever since.

Objectives of the Foundation : The Nobel Foundation is a private institution. It is entrusted withprotecting the common interests of the Prize Awarding Institutions named in the will, as well asrepresenting the Nobel institutions externally. This includes informational activities as well asarrangements related to the presentation of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is not, however, involved inthe selection process and the final choice of the Laureates (as Nobel Prize winners are also called). Inthis work, the Prize-awarding Institutions are not only entirely independent of all government agenciesand organisations, but also of the Nobel Foundation. Their autonomy is of crucial importance to theobjectivity and quality of their prize decisions. One vital task of the Foundation is to manage its assets insuch a way as to safeguard the financial base of the prizes themselves and of the prize selection process.

Year of Institution : 1901 Founder : Alfred Bernhard Nobel (183396)

Number of Awards : Six1. Physics2. Chemistry

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3. Physiology or Medicine4. Literature Peace5. Economics (Established in 1967)

Date on which it is awarded : December 10Anyone proposing himself for Nobel Prize is ruled out of consideration. The recommendationshave to come from outside. The Noble Prizes are presented annually, December 10, the death

anniversary of the founder and the festival day of the Foundation. Originally it was awarded forworks in five disciplines. The prize for Economics was instituted in 1967, by Sverigs Riksbank,Swedish Bank, in celebration of its 300th anniversary and was awarded for the first time in 1969,it is called Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

Nobel Foundations Prize Awarding Bodies

i. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, awards the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry.ii. The Nobel Assembly of Karolinska Chirugical Institute, Sweden, awards the Nobel Prize in

Medicine and Physiology.iii. The Swedish Academy awards the Prize in Literature.iv. The Committee of the Norwegian Parliament awards the Prize for Peace.v. The Bank of Sweden Awards the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Value of the Nobel Prize : The amount of each prize varies with the income from the fund. The value ofnobel prize was 150,782 Swedish Crown in 1901. Now the value of nobel prize has increased to10,000,000 Swedish Crown in 2004 as compared to 9,000,000 Swedish Crown in 2000. No Nobel Prizewas awarded for 1940, 1941 and 1942; Prizes for Literature were not awarded for 1914, 1918 and 1943.

Maximum Nobel Prizes : US citizens have won outright as well as shared the maximum number ofNobel Prizes. Individually, the only person to have two Nobel Prizes: Dr Linus Carl Pauling, Professor ofChemistry at California. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954 and the Peace Prize in 1962

First Couple to Receive the Nobel Prize : Madame Marie Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for

Physics with her husband Pierre Curie, she later won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911,

Three Nobel Prizes : The International Committee of the Red Cross was awarded the Nobel Prize forPeace three times: 1917, 1944 and 1963.