Nobel Prizes
Premios Nobel
- Date
- 1895-1901 · confidence high
- Place
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Credited to
- Alfred Nobel (will) and the Nobel Foundation
- Field
- Communication
What it is
Alfred Nobel left his fortune in his will (27 November 1895) to reward those who had conferred 'the greatest benefit on humankind' in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. They were first awarded on 10 December 1901.
The will was contested by part of the family; the Nobel Foundation was established in 1900 to carry it out and the first prizes were awarded in 1901. The Economics prize (1968) is funded by the Bank of Sweden and is not in the will.
What it led to
- worldwide recognition of scientific work and its dissemination
- the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences (1968)
- debates over sharing credit, the exclusion of women and the three-laureate rule