“The story of Nobel Prize is like a tragedy, where the Hero losses after winning it all”

The announcement for the 2014 Nobel Prize winners was made recently. The prefix ‘Nobel laureate’ gives an impression about the great achievement and contributions of the person or organization to the human society. However, the story of the Nobel Prize is nothing less than an irony.

Background

• It would not be wrong If someone were to say that Nobel Prize are a product of a guilt. A guilt that was responsible for the pain and misery of the substantial proportion of the masses on earth. A guilt that gave a precedence for bloodshed and violence, and transformed the petty conflicts between groups into large-scale wars.

This is how a French Newspaper wrote an Obituary for Alfred Nobel:

“The Merchant of Death is Dead”

• The origin of the Nobel Prizes are found in the Will of the Swedish inventor- Alfred Nobel- who was a brilliant inventor and businessman. He had to his name about 355 patents. Among them, the most revolutionary invention was that of the Dynamite. The invention of Dynamite gave Alfred Nobel vast amount of fortunes, across the world, but also gave along a life-long guilt of inventing an instrument of violence. Thus, in his will, Nobel provided for the establishment of prizes to award those who had done their best to benefit the mankind in the field of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace. Thus, started the tradition of Nobel Prize.

• The First Nobel Prizes for the Five categories were given in 1901, 5 years after the death of Nobel. In 1969, another category of Nobel Prize was added in the form of ‘the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel’, or the Noble Prize in Economy. The Nobel Prize in Economics was instituted by the Bank of Sweden

• Nobel Prizes have been conferred on annual basis, except during 1940-42, when the Nobel Prizes could not be awarded due to the outbreak of the World War II.

Who Distributes the Prizes?

• The Nobel foundation was set up to carry out the provisions of his will and to administer his funds. The will of Alfred Nobel provided that the prizes should be awarded by four different institutions- 3 Swedish and 1 Norwegian.

• The announcement of the prizes is made in October, each year, while the awards are conferred by the Swedish King on December 10 (anniversary of Alfred Nobel). Among the awards, include-

• The Nobel Peace Prize is conferred by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which is based on Oslo. At the top of the hierarchy, the Nobel Foundation is the legal owner and functional administrator of the funds and serves as the joint administrative body of the prize-awarding institutions.

• A Nobel Diploma;

• A Medal

• 10 million Swedish crowns per prize.

All the Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, except the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

How are the Awards given??

A considerable research and brain storming is done before awarding the Nobel Prizes. The whole process takes more than a year.

• It begins with the invitation to more than 6000 individuals to propose or nominate candidates for the prizes. There are about 1000+ nominations for each prize, the number of nominees ranging from 100 to 250. The nominations are made by Nobel laureates, members of the prize awarding institutions, active scholars in different fields, and officials and members of diverse universities and learned academies. The nominations are to be supported through a written proposal about the candidate’s worthiness. There is no provision for Self-nomination.

• The Nomination procedure has to be done by January 31^st. Thereafter, the 5 Nobel Committees start the research work. Experts from different walks of life are consulted to gain insights into the contributions made by each nominee.

• By early October, the Committees submit their recommendations to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and other prize-awarding institutions. The deliberations and voting in all these institutions remain a secret. The final decision is taken by November 15.

• Also, Prizes, except for Peace, are to be given only to individuals.

• An individual cannot be nominated posthumously (after death). However, if a person has been nominated and dies before receiving the prize, then such a person may be awarded the prize posthumously. This happened with Dag Hammarskhold, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961, and Erik Axel Karlfeldt who received the Nobel for Literature in 1931.

The Exceptional Cases: Rebels and the Over-Achievers

• There have been several instances when some individuals have declined to accept the award, either due to personal beliefs, or sometimes, due to the pressure and threats from the national government. Such instances have taken place during the reign of Hitler, when Germany proscribed the acceptance of Nobel Prize. Simiarly, former-Soviet Union had also pressurised Boris Pasternak, who was recommended for Literature Nobel in 1958, to refuse from taking the award.

• There have also been instances when the individuals refused the Nobel, due to personal beliefs or as a mark of protest. For instance, Jean-Paul Sartre had refused to take the Literature Nobel in 1954, as he had vowed to decline all official honours. Similarly, Le Duc Tho had refused to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, in protest against the Vietnam war.

• On the other hand, there are instances of some over-achievers, who have won the Nobel more than once. The International Committee of the Red Cross is in the lead in this regard, by winning the Nobel Peace Prize thrice.

• Among the individuals John Bardeen had been conferred the Physics Nobel twice. Persons like Marie Curie (won Nobel for Physics and Chemistry) and Linus Pauling (for Chemistry and Peace) have won the Nobel twice in different fields.

Nobel Prize Winners 2014