One is the loneliest number? Some Nobel Prize figures

World Today

Nobel prize(Image: Tim Ereneta / flickr / creative commons)

Angus Deaton on Oct. 12 rounded out the 2015 selection of Nobel Prize winners when it was announced he would receive the Memorial Prize in economics. Here’s a look at the Nobels by the numbers, including declines, keeping it in the family, and women in peace.

332 The most Nobel Prize winners from a single country

 

The U.S. has produced the lion’s share of winners. The U.K. follows with 104 winners, Germany with 86, and France at 62.

25 The number of countries that have produced only one Nobel Prize winners.

 

Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ghana, Iceland, Iran, Kenya, Macedonia, Myanmar (Burma), New Zealand, Nigeria, Palestine, Peru, Slovenia, South Korea, Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia

16 The number of women to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

1905, Czech Republic, Bertha von Suttner
1931, United States, Jane Addams
1946, United States, Emily G. Balch
1976, Ireland, Betty Williams
1976, Ireland, Mairéad Corrigan
1979, India, Mother Teresa
1982, Sweden, Alva Myrdal
1991, Myanmar (Burma), Aung San Suu Kyi
1992, Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchú
1997, United States, Jody Williams
2003, Iran, Shirin Ebadi
2004, Kenya, Wangari Muta Maathai
2011, Yemen, Tawakkol Karman
2011, Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
2011, Liberia, Leymah Gbowee
2014, Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai

4 The number of winners to receive two Nobel awards.

 

France’s Marie Curie, for Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911.
U.K.’s Frederick Sanger for Chemistry in 1958 and 1980.
U.S.’s John Bardeen for Physics in 1956 and 1972.
U.S.’s Linus C. Pauling for Chemistry in 1954 and Peace in 1962.

3 The number of Nobel Prizes awarded to Chinese citizens.

 

Liu Xiaobo for Peace in 2010
Mo Yan for Literature in 2012
Tu Youyou for Physiology or Medicine in 2015
(Other recipients were born in China, but took a different citizenship before being awarded.)

The number of winners to decline the Nobel Prize.

 

Vietnam’s Lê Đức Thọ for Peace in 1973 and France’s Jean-Paul Sartre for Literature in 1964 both declined their prizes. 

1 The number of parent-child duos to be award the prize at the same time.

 

Father William Henry Bragg and son William Lawrence Bragg of the U.K. for Physics in 1915.

1 Number of Nobel Winners awarded posthumously.

 

Sweden’s Dag Hammarskjöld for Peace in 1961. He died several months before the award ceremony.



Scroll and sort your way through the complete list of Nobel Prize winners since 1901.

 


When multiple countries were listed for a winner, the country of citizenship was used. If multiple citizenships existed, the citizenship at the time of the award was used.