Nobel Prize – Comprehensive GK for Railway Exams
1. What is the Nobel Prize?
- The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions.
- Established by the 1895 will of Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist Alfred Nobel.
- First awarded in 1901.
- Administered by the Nobel Foundation (established in 1900).
- Recognizes outstanding contributions to humanity in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics (added in 1968).
2. Alfred Nobel – Key Facts
| Fact |
Detail |
| Born |
21 Oct 1833, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died |
10 Dec 1896, San Remo, Italy |
| Invented |
Dynamite (1867) |
| Will signed |
27 Nov 1895 |
| Estate left for prizes |
SEK 31 million (≈ ₹250 cr today) |
| Motto |
“Invented to benefit humankind” |
3. Nobel Prize Categories & Awarding Institutions
| Category |
Awarding Body |
Location |
| Physics |
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
Stockholm |
| Chemistry |
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
Stockholm |
| Medicine |
Karolinska Institute |
Stockholm |
| Literature |
Swedish Academy |
Stockholm |
| Peace |
Norwegian Nobel Committee |
Oslo |
| Economics |
Sveriges Riksbank (Nobel Memorial Prize) |
Stockholm |
4. Important Dates
| Year |
Event |
| 1833 |
Alfred Nobel born |
| 1867 |
Dynamite invented |
| 1895 |
Nobel’s will signed |
| 1900 |
Nobel Foundation created |
| 1901 |
First prizes awarded |
| 1968 |
Economics prize added |
| 1974 |
Rule: Prize not given posthumously |
| 2012 |
Maximum 3 laureates per category fixed |
| 2020 |
Cash reward raised to 10 million SEK |
5. Indian & Indian-origin Nobel Laureates
| Year |
Laureate |
Field |
Detail |
| 1913 |
Rabindranath Tagore |
Literature |
1st Asian Nobel, for Gitanjali |
| 1930 |
C. V. Raman |
Physics |
Raman Effect |
| 1979 |
Mother Teresa |
Peace |
Albanian-Indian, Kolkata |
| 1998 |
Amartya Sen |
Economics |
Welfare economics |
| 2009 |
Venki Ramakrishnan |
Chemistry |
Indian-born US/UK citizen, ribosome |
| 2014 |
Kailash Satyarthi |
Peace |
Child rights activist |
6. Firsts & Records
| Record |
Person / Detail |
| First Nobel |
Wilhelm Röntgen (Physics, 1901) |
| First Woman |
Marie Curie (Physics, 1903) |
| First Indian |
Rabindranath Tagore (1913) |
| Youngest laureate |
Malala Yousafzai (Peace, 2014, age 17) |
| Oldest laureate |
John B. Goodenough (Chemistry, 2019, age 97) |
| Only person with 2 Nobels in different sciences |
Marie Curie (Physics 1903, Chemistry 1911) |
| Organisation with most Peace Prizes |
ICRC (3 times: 1917, 1944, 1963) |
7. Nobel Prize Statistics (1901-2023)
| Metric |
Number |
| Total prizes awarded |
621 (to 1,000+ laureates) |
| Physics |
117 |
| Chemistry |
115 |
| Medicine |
114 |
| Literature |
115 |
| Peace |
104 |
| Economics |
56 |
| Women laureates |
65 |
| Shared prizes (2/3 persons) |
~47 % |
8. Quick-Reference Table – Recent Indian Connections
| Year |
Name |
Category |
Remark |
| 2023 |
No Indian |
– |
– |
| 2022 |
No Indian |
– |
– |
| 2021 |
No Indian |
– |
– |
| 2020 |
Louise Glück (US) |
Literature |
Indian media hype ≠ Indian |
| 2019 |
Abhijit Banerjee |
Economics |
Indian-American, MIT |
9. One-Liner Revision Facts
- Nobel medals are 18-carat green gold plated with 24-carat gold.
- Nobel Week: 6–12 December every year; Peace Prize only in Oslo.
- Medals feature Alfred Nobel’s profile and the years of his birth & death.
- No prize in Nobel’s will for Mathematics – urban myth says due to rivalry with Mittag-Leffler.
- Prize cannot be appealed; Nobel Committee’s decision is final.
- Cash component: 10 million SEK (≈ ₹7.5 crore) shared equally when >1 laureate.
- Indian PM Gandhi never won Peace Prize; was nominated 5 times.
- UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) won Peace Prize twice (1954, 1981).
- 2023 Physics laureates: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, Anne L’Huillier – attosecond pulses.
- 2023 Medicine: Katalin Karikó & Drew Weissman – mRNA vaccine tech.
10. MCQs for Railway Exams
Answer
1. Who instituted the Nobel Prize?
A. Alfred Nobel
B. Alfred Hitchcock
C. Alfred Russell
D. Alfred Wegener
**Answer: A**
Show All 15 MCQs
Answer
2. In which year was the first Nobel Prize awarded?
A. 1895
B. 1900
C. 1901
D. 1911
**Answer: C**
Answer
3. Which Indian won the Nobel Prize in 1913?
A. C. V. Raman
B. Rabindranath Tagore
C. Mother Teresa
D. Amartya Sen
**Answer: B**
Answer
4. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in which city?
A. Stockholm
B. Oslo
C. Copenhagen
D. Helsinki
**Answer: B**
Answer
5. Who is the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences?
A. John Bardeen
B. Linus Pauling
C. Marie Curie
D. Frederick Sanger
**Answer: C**
Answer
6. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was added in
A. 1955
B. 1968
C. 1971
D. 1982
**Answer: B**
Answer
7. The youngest Nobel laureate is
A. Malala Yousafzai
B. Lawrence Bragg
C. Tsung-Dao Lee
D. Nadia Murad
**Answer: A**
Answer
8. Which organisation has won the Nobel Peace Prize three times?
A. UNO
B. UNICEF
C. ICRC
D. WHO
**Answer: C**
Answer
9. The cash reward for each 2023 Nobel Prize is
A. 8 million SEK
B. 9 million SEK
C. 10 million SEK
D. 11 million SEK
**Answer: C**
Answer
10. Who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930?
A. Albert Einstein
B. C. V. Raman
C. Niels Bohr
D. Werner Heisenberg
**Answer: B**
Answer
11. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 was awarded to
A. Abdulrazak Gurnah
B. Annie Ernaux
C. Jon Fosse
D. Louise Glück
**Answer: C**
Answer
12. The motto inscribed on the Nobel medal is
A. Pro pace et fraternitate
B. Inventions to benefit humankind
C. For the greatest benefit to humankind
D. Pro scientia et sapientia
**Answer: C**
Answer
13. Which of the following Indians has NOT won a Nobel Prize?
A. Subhas Chandra Bose
B. Kailash Satyarthi
C. Venki Ramakrishnan
D. Amartya Sen
**Answer: A**
Answer
14. The Nobel Foundation is located in
A. Oslo
B. Stockholm
C. Geneva
D. Vienna
**Answer: B**
Answer
15. Maximum number of persons who can share a Nobel Prize is
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
**Answer: B**
Revise daily: 1 scroll = 1 category!
BETA
