For one thing, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, known until as the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament Storting , has been engaged in this task ever since In that year the Peace Prize, like the other Nobel Prizes, was awarded for the first time.
Even that first award was controversial, with criticism going in two directions. Admittedly the Red Cross alleviated suffering once war had broken out, but what did the organization actually do to prevent war? Those who favoured Dunant objected to his having to share the prize with Passy. Critical questions of this kind have come from various sources through the years but, unlike nearly all the other peace prizes, the Nobel Peace Prize is firmly established, work on it having gone on continuously since The Nobel Peace Prize may perhaps attract as much international attention and publicity as all the other Nobel Prizes put together.
This is attention which I believe also our Swedish friends appreciate. Similarly, we on the Norwegian side are very conscious of the value of being associated with the prestige of the more scientific awards in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine.
The prize which has most in common with the Peace Prize is the Literature Prize. That is not to say that the Committee has an unblemished record. Certainly there have been persons who deserved a Nobel Peace Prize but were never awarded one.
And on the other hand, there have certainly been Laureates who should not have won the Peace Prize, but the Secretary to the Nobel Committee would probably do well to keep his personal favourites on that list to himself. Nansen is one of two Norwegians to receive the Prize.
The other is Christian Lange That the Committee is from a small country and has so rarely rewarded its own countrymen has probably also contributed to the high international status of the Prize. It can of course also be argued that the value in money of the Peace Prize, like the other Nobel Prizes, adds to its prestige. That may be so, but it should also be noted that it was only in its very earliest and very latest years that the value of the Prize was exceptionally high.
There are in fact even today other peace prizes that are more valuable — in terms of money. So the world cares about the Peace Prize. Humour is rarely rewarded. The peace prize is by far the most political Nobel.
But plenty of individuals have won in their pursuit of peace: Dr Martin Luther King, leader of the civil rights movement; Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the human rights and anti-apartheid activist; and Malala Yousafzai, for her struggle against the suppression of children.
But since most of the prizes are shared between two or three people, the individual winnings can be as low as 2. For some laureates or their families the gold medals are more lucrative. In , James Watson became the first living laureate to auction his medal. Those who win a Nobel are often propelled from a quiet life running a laboratory or writing books to minor celebrity overnight.
Invitations to give talks, attend parties and pronounce opinions on a wide variety of topics come flooding in. Some are thrilled to have a platform from which to raise political issues and gain access to politicians, business leaders and the media.
For others, this comes as a downside. One study, which tracked the publication record of Nobel laureates from to , found that papers published after the award were cited less and published in more lowly journals.
Gerald Murnane, who pulls pints at his golf club in Goroke, miles north-west of Melbourne, must be a contender. We could see a medicine or chemistry prize for gene editing go to Jennifer Doudna, Emmanuel Charpentier and Feng Zhang. The year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has been nominated for the peace prize. Pope Francis is in with a chance. Very few women have been recognised over the years. When Donna Strickland was awarded the prize in physics last year, she broke a year exclusively male run and became the third woman to receive it.
Since , only three women have won the physics prize. An argument often wheeled out in discussions about the scarcity of women is that since Nobel prizes are often awarded to people late in their careers, the honours list reflects a time when laboratories were even less diverse than they are today. The medicine winner, Sir Paul Nurse, bought himself a high-end motorbike.
Meanwhile, literature laureate Orhan Pamuk established a museum in Istanbul. Image source, Getty Images. Famous past winners. Nobel Prize in numbers Statistics from to Nobel Laureates people, 27 organisations 17 Age of youngest winner - education activist Malala Yousafzai 97 Age of oldest winner - scientist John B Goodenough 53 Prizes won by women 6 People who declined an award Source: Nobel Prize website.
What are the prizes awarded? How do they work? This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. What do the winners receive? The recipient of each prize receives three things:. They have to deliver a lecture to receive the money. What have some prize winners bought with their winnings?
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