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Compiled by Thomas Vella-Zarb from various sources. When you click on a recipient you mostly get a biography [mainly from the Nobel Page] or autobiography. Click the BACK button of your browser to come back here.
The First Nobel Prizes were awarded on December 10, 1901 Alfred Nobel made his fortune with his invention of dynamite. He wanted to give it away to help mankind. He made a will awarding prizes to five areas of Humanities - physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature - the will was, however, partly incomplete, so peace was added later. Nobel simply stated that prizes be given to those who, during the preceding year, "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" and that one part be given to the person who "shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement." Prizes have been awarded annually [with a few exceptions] on December 10 (the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death). Each Nobel Laureate receives a medal [above right], a hand-crafted diploma [with an individualized graphic and calligraphy], and a document confirming the prize amount (in 2000 this was 9,000,000 Swedish crowns, or about US $900,000.) |
1901 | Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff | Netherlands | 1852-08-30 - 1911-03-01 | Discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and of the osmotic pressure in solutions |
1902 | Emil H. Fischer | Germany | 1852-10-09 - 1919-07-15 | Synthetic studies in the area of sugar and purine groups |
1903 | Svante A. Arrhenius | Sweden | 1859-02-19 - 1927-10-02 | Theory of electrolytic dissociation |
1904 | Sir William Ramsay | United Kingdom | 1852-10-02 - 1916-07-23 | Discovery of the indifferent gaseous elements in air (noble gases) |
1905 | Adolf von Baeyer | Germany | 1835-10-31 - 1917-08-20 | Organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds |
1906 | Henri Moissan | France | 1852-09-28 - 1907-02-20 | Investigation and isolation of the element fluorine |
1907 | Eduard Buchner | Germany | 1860-05-20 - 1917-08-13 | Biochemical studies, discovery of fermentation without cells |
1908 | Sir Ernest Rutherford | United Kingdom | 1871-08-30 - 1937-10-19 | Decay of the elements, chemistry of radioactive substances |
1909 | Wilhelm Ostwald | Germany | 1853-09-02 - 1932-04-04 | Catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction rates |
1910 | Otto Wallach | Germany | 1847-03-27 - 1931-02-26 | Alicyclic compounds |
1911 | Marie Curie | France, Poland | 1867-11-07 - 1934-07-04 | Discovery of radium and polonium |
1912 | Victor Grignard | France | 1871-05-16 - 1935-12-13 | Grignard's reagent |
Paul Sabatier | France | 1854-11-05 - 1941-08-14 | Hydrogenation of organic compounds in the presence of finely divided metals | |
1913 | Alfred Werner | Switzerland | 1866-12-12 - 1919-11-15 | Bonding relations of atoms in molecules (inorganic chemistry) |
1914 | Theodore W. Richards | USA | 1868-01-31 - 1928-04-02 | Determination of atomic weights |
1915 | Richard Willstätter | Germany | 1872-08-13 - 1942-08-03 | Investigation of plant pigments, particularly of chlorophyll |
1916 | Not Awarded | |||
1917 | Not Awarded | |||
1918 | Fritz Haber | Germany | 1868-12-09 - 1934-01-29 | Synthesis of ammonia from its elements |
1919 | Not Awarded | |||
1920 | Walther H. Nernst | Germany | 1864-06-25 - 1941-11-18 | Studies on thermodynamics |
1921 | Frederick Soddy | United Kingdom | 1877-09-02 - 1956-09-22 | Chemistry of radioactive substances, occurrence and nature of the isotopes |
1922 | Francis W. Aston | United Kingdom | 1877-09-01 - 1945-11-20 | Discovery of a large number of isotopes, mass spectrograph |
1923 | Fritz Pregl | Austria | 1869-09-03 - 1930-12-13 | Microanalysis of organic compounds |
1924 | Not Awarded | |||
1925 | Richard A. Zsigmondy | Germany, Austria | 1865-04-01 - 1929-09-29 | Colloid chemistry (ultramicroscope) |
1926 | Theodor Svedberg | Sweden | 1884-08-30 - 1971-02-26 | Disperse systems (ultracentrifuge) |
1927 | Heinrich O. Wieland | Germany | 1877-06-04 - 1957-08-05 | Constitution of bile acids |
1928 | Adolf Windaus | Germany | 1876-12-25 - 1959-06-09 | Study of sterols and their relation with vitamins (vitamin D) |
1929 | Hans von Euler-Chelpin | Sweden, Germany | 1873-02-15 - 1964-11-06 | Studies on fermentation of sugars and enzymes |
Arthur Harden | United Kingdom | 1861-10-12 - 1940-06-17 | ||
1930 | Hans Fischer | Germany | 1881-07-27 - 1945-03-31 | Studies on blood and plant pigments, synthesis of hemin |
1931 | Friedrich Bergius | Germany | 1884-10-11 - 1949-03-30 | Development of chemical high-pressure processes |
Carl Bosch | Germany | 1874-08-27 - 1940-04-26 | ||
1932 | Irving Langmuir | USA | 1881-01-31 - 1957-08-16 | Surface chemistry |
1933 | Not Awarded | |||
1934 | Harold C. Urey | USA | 1893-04-29 - 1981-01-06 | Discovery of heavy hydrogen (deuterium) |
1935 | Frédéric Joliot | France | 1900-03-19 - 1958-08-14 | Syntheses of new radioactive elements (artificial radioactivity) |
Irène Joliot-Curie | France | 1897-09-12 - 1956-03-17 | ||
1936 | Peter J. W. Debye | Germany, Netherlands | 1884-03-24 - 1966-11-02 | Studies on dipole moments and the diffraction of X rays and electron beams by gases |
1937 | Sir Walter N. Haworth | United Kingdom | 1883-03-19 - 1950-03-19 | Studies on carbohydrates and vitamin C |
Paul Karrer | Switzerland | 1889-04-21 - 1971-06-18 | Studies on carotenoids and flavins and vitamins A and B2 | |
1938 | Richard Kuhn | Germany | 1900-12-03 - 1967-07-31 | Studies on carotenoids and vitamins |
1939 | Adolf F. J. Butenandt | Germany | 1903-03-24 - 1995-01-18 | Studies on sexual hormones |
Leopold Ruzicka | Switzerland | 1887-09-13 - 1976-09-26 | Studies on polymethylenes and higher terpenes | |
1940 | Not Awarded | |||
1941 | Not Awarded | |||
1942 | Not Awarded | |||
1943 | George de Hevesy | Hungary | 1885-08-01 - 1966-07-05 | Application of isotopes as indicators in the investigation chemical processes |
1944 | Otto Hahn | Germany | 1879-03-08 - 1968-07-28 | Discovery of the nuclear fission of atoms |
1945 | Artturi I. Virtanen | Finland | 1895-01-15 - 1973-11-11 | Discoveries in the area of agricultural and food chemistry, method of preservation of fodder |
1946 | John H. Northrop | USA | 1891-07-05 - 1987-05-27 | Preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in pure form |
Wendell M. Stanley | USA | 1904-08-16 - 1971-06-15 | ||
James B. Sumner | USA | 1887-11-19 - 1955-08-12 | Crystallizability of enzymes | |
1947 | Sir Robert Robinson | United Kingdom | 1886-09-13 - 1975-02-08 | Studies on alkaloids |
1948 | Arne W. K. Tiselius | Sweden | 1902-08-10 - 1971-10-29 | Analysis by means of electrophoresis and adsorption, discoveries about serum proteins |
1949 | William F. Giauque | USA | 1895-05-12 - 1982-03-28 | Contributions to chemical thermodynamics, properties at extremely low temperatures (adiabatic demagnetization) |
1950 | Kurt Alder | Germany | 1902-07-10 - 1958-06-20 | Development of the diene synthesis |
Otto P. H. Diels | Germany | 1876-01-23 - 1954-03-07 | ||
1951 | Edwin M. McMillan | USA | *1907-09-18 | Discoveries in the chemistry of transuranium elements |
Glenn Th. Seaborg | USA | 1912-04-19 - 1999-02-25 | ||
1952 | Archer J. P. Martin | United Kingdom | *1910-03-01 | Invention of distribution chromatography |
Richard L. M. Synge | United Kingdom | 1914-10-28 - 1994-08-18 | ||
1953 | Hermann Staudinger | Germany | 1881-03-23 - 1965-09-08 | Discoveries in the area of macromolecular chemistry |
1954 | Linus Carl Pauling | USA | 1901-02-28 - 1994-08-19 | Studies on the nature of the chemical bond (molecular structure of proteins) |
1955 | Vincent du Vigneaud | USA | 1901-05-18 - 1978-12-11 | Synthesis of a polypeptide hormone |
1956 | Sir Cyril N. Hinshelwood | United Kingdom | 1897-06-19 - 1967-10-09 | Mechanisms of chemical reactions |
Nikolai N. Semenov | Soviet Union | 1896-04-15 - 1986-09-25 | ||
1957 | Sir Alexander R. Todd | United Kingdom | *1907-07-02 | Studies on nucleotides and their coenzymes |
1958 | Frederick Sanger | United Kingdom | *1918-08-13 | Structure of proteins, especially of insulin |
1959 | Jaroslav Heyrovský | Czechoslovakia | 1890-12-20 - 1967-03-27 | Polarography |
1960 | Willard F. Libby | USA | 1908-12-17 - 1980-09-08 | Application of carbon 14 for age determinations (radiocarbon dating) |
1961 | Melvin Calvin | USA | *1911-04-07 | Studies on the assimilation of carbonic acid by plants (photosynthesis) |
1962 | John Cowdery Kendrew | United Kingdom | *1917-03-24 | Studies on the structures of globulin proteins |
Max Ferdinand Perutz | United Kingdom, Austria | 1914-05-19 - 2002-02-06 | ||
1963 | Giulio Natta | Italy | 1903-02-26 - 1979-05-02 | Chemistry and technology of high polymers |
Karl Ziegler | Germany | 1898-11-26 - 1973-08-11 | ||
1964 | Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin | United Kingdom | *1910-05-12 | Structure determination of biologically important substances by means of X rays |
1965 | Robert Burns Woodward | USA | 1917-04-10 - 1979-07-08 | Syntheses of natural products |
1966 | Robert S. Mulliken | USA | 1896-06-07 - 1986-10-31 | Studies on chemical bonds and the electron structure of molecules by means of the orbital method |
1967 | Manfred Eigen | Germany | *1927-05-09 | Investigations of extremely fast chemical reactions |
George Porter | United Kingdom | *1920-12-06 | ||
Ronald G. W. Norrish | United Kingdom | 1897-11-09 - 1978-06-07 | ||
1968 | Lars Onsager | USA, Norway | 1903-11-27 - 1976-10-05 | Studies on the thermodynamics of irreversible processes |
1969 | Odd Hassel | Norway | 1897-05-17 - 1981-05-13 | Development of the concept of conformation |
Derek H. Barton | United Kingdom | *1918-09-08 | ||
1970 | Luis F. Leloir | Argentina | *1906-09-06 | Discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates |
1971 | Gerhard Herzberg | Canada | 1904-12-25 - 1999-03-03 | Electron structure and geometry of molecules, particularly of free radicals (molecular spectroscopy) |
1972 | Christian B. Anfinsen | USA | *1916-03-26 | Studies on ribonuclease |
Stanford Moore | USA | 1913-09-04 - 1982-08-23 | ||
William H. Stein | USA | 1911-06-25 - 1980-02-02 | Studies on the active center of ribonuclease | |
1973 | Ernst Otto Fischer | Germany | *1918-11-10 | Chemistry of metal-organic sandwich compounds |
Geoffrey Wilkinson | United Kingdom | 1921-07-14 - 1996-09-26 | ||
1974 | Paul J. Flory | USA | 1910-06-19 - 1985-09-09 | Physical chemistry of macromolecules |
1975 | John W. Cornforth | United Kingdom | *1917-09-07 | Stereochemistry of enzyme catalysis reactions |
Vladimir Prelog | Switzerland, Yugoslavia | 1906-07-23 - 1998-01-07 | Studies on the stereochemistry of organic molecules and reactions | |
1976 | William N. Lipscomb | USA | *1919-12-09 | Structure of boranes |
1977 | Ilya Prigogine | Belgium | 1917-01-25 - 2003-05-28 | Contributions to the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, particularly to the theory of dissipative structures |
1978 | Peter D. Mitchell | United Kingdom | *1920-09-29 | Studies of biological energy transfer, development of the chemiosmotic theory |
1979 | Georg Wittig | Germany | 1897-06-16 - 1987-08-26 | Development of (organic boron and phosphorous compounds) |
Herbert C. Brown | USA | *1912-05-22 | ||
1980 | Paul Berg | USA | *1926-06-30 | Studies on the biochemistry of nucleic acids, particularly hybrid DNA (technology of gene surgery) |
Walter Gilbert | USA | *1932-03-21 | ||
Frederick Sanger | United Kingdom | 1918-08-13 | Determination of base sequences in nucleic acids | |
1981 | Kenichi Fukui | Japan | *1918-10-04 | Theories on the progress of chemical reactions (frontier orbital theory) |
Roald Hoffmann | USA | *1937-07-18 | ||
1982 | Aaron Klug | United Kingdom | *1926-08-11 | Development of crystallographic methods for the elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid protein complexes |
1983 | Henry Taube | Canada | *1915-11-30 | Reaction mechanisms of electron transfer, especially with metal complexes |
1984 | Robert Bruce Merrifield | USA | *1921-07-15 | Method for the preparation of peptides and proteins |
1985 | Herbert A. Hauptman | USA | 1917-02-14 | Development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures |
Jerome Karle | USA | 1918-06-18 | ||
1986 | John C. Polanyi | Canada | *1929-01-23 | Dynamics of chemical elementary processes |
Dudley R. Herschbach | USA | *1932-06-18 | ||
Yuan Tseh Lee | USA | *1936-11-29 | ||
1987 | Donald J. Cram | USA | 1919-04-22 - 2001-06-27 | Development of molecules with structurally specific interaction of high selectivity |
Charles J. Pedersen | USA | 1904-10-03 - 1989-10-26 | ||
Jean-Marie Lehn | France | *1939-09-30 | ||
1988 | Johann Deisenhofer | Germany | *1943-09-30 | Determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction center |
Robert Huber | Germany | *1937-02-20 | ||
Hartmut Michel | Germany | *1948-07-18 | ||
1989 | Sidney Altman | Canada | *1939-05-08 | Discovery of the catalytic properties of ribonucleic acid (RNA) |
Thomas Robert Cech | USA | *1947-12-08 | ||
1990 | Elias James Corey | USA | *1928-07-12 | Development of novel methods for the synthesis of complex natural compounds (retrosynthetic analysis) |
1991 | Richard Robert Ernst | Switzerland | *1933-08-14 | Development of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) |
1992 | Rudolph A. Marcus | USA | *1923 | Theories of electron transfer |
1993 | Kary Banks Mullis | USA | *1944 | Invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) |
Michael Smith | Canada | *1932 | Development of site specific mutagenesis | |
1994 | George A. Olah | USA | *1927 | Carbocations |
1995 | Paul Crutzen | Netherlands | *1933 | Their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone |
Mario Molina | Mexico | *1943 | ||
Frank Sherwood Rowland | USA | *1927 | ||
1996 | Robert F. Curl, Jr. | USA | *1933 | Their discovery of fullerenes |
Sir Harold W. Kroto | United Kingdom | *1939 | ||
Richard E. Smalley | USA | *1943 | ||
1997 | Paul D. Boyer | USA | *1918 | Their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) |
John E. Walker | United Kingdom | *1941 | ||
Jens C. Skou | Denmark | *1918 | The first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na+, K+-ATPase | |
1998 | Walter Kohn | USA | *1923 | Walter Kohn for his development of the density-functional theory John Pople for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry (GAUSSIAN) computer programs |
John A. Pople | United Kingdom/USA | *1925 | ||
1999 | Ahmed H. Zewail | USA, Egypt | *1946 | His studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy |
2000 | Alan J. Heeger | USA | *1936 | The discovery and development of conductive polymers |
Alan G. MacDiarmid | USA | *1927 | ||
Hideki Shirakawa | Japan | *1936 | ||
2001 | William S. Knowles | USA | *1917 | Their work on chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions |
Ryoji Noyori | Japan | *1938 | ||
K. Barry Sharpless | USA | *1941 | His work on chirally catalysed oxidation reactions | |
2002 | John B. Fenn | USA | *1917 | Their development of soft desorption ionisation methods for mass spectrometric analyses of biological macromolecules |
Koichi Tanaka | Japan | *1959 | ||
Kurt Wüthrich | Switzerland | *1938 | His development of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution | |
2003 | Peter Agre | USA | *1949 | The discovery of water channels in cell membranes |
Roderick MacKinnon | USA | *1956 | Structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels in cell membranes | |
2004 | ||||
Aaron Ciechanover | Israel | *1947 | The discovery of a key way cells destroy unwanted proteins | |
Avram Hershko | Israel | *1937 | ||
Irwin Rose | USA | *1926 | ||
2005 | ||||
Yves Chauvinr | France | *1930 | The development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis | |
Robert H. Grubbs | U.S.A. | *1942 | ||
Richard R. Schrock | U.S.A | *1945 | ||
2006 | Roger D. Kornberg | U.S.A | *1947 | His studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription |
2007 | Gerhard Ertl | Germany | *1936 | His studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces. |
2008 | ||||
Osamu Shimomura | U.S.A. | *1928 | Their discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP | |
Martin Chalfie | U.S.A. | *1947 | ||
Roger Y. Tsien | U.S.A. | *1952 | ||
2009 | Venkatraman Ramakrishnan | U.K. | *1952 | For studies of the structure and function of the ribosome |
Thomas A. Steitz | U.S.A. | *1940 | ||
Ada E. Yonath | Israel | *1939 |