Complete guide to Nobel Laureates - essential for competitive exams
Nobel Prize questions frequently appear in UPSC, SSC, Banking, and State PSC exams. Focus on Indian winners, recent laureates, and unique achievements.
The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, or scientific advances.
| Category | First Awarded | Total Prizes | Total Laureates | Indian Winners | Notable Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | 1901 | 117 | 222 | 1 (C.V. Raman) | John Bardeen won twice |
| Chemistry | 1901 | 114 | 191 | 1 (Venkatraman Ramakrishnan) | Frederick Sanger won twice |
| Medicine | 1901 | 114 | 227 | 0 | Most awards to USA |
| Literature | 1901 | 117 | 120 | 1 (Rabindranath Tagore) | First female: Selma Lagerlöf (1909) |
| Peace | 1901 | 104 | 141 individuals + 28 organizations | 2 (Mother Teresa, Kailash Satyarthi) | International Committee of the Red Cross won 3 times |
| Economics | 1969 | 55 | 92 | 2 (Amartya Sen, Abhijit Banerjee) | Not in original Nobel will |
First Nobel Prizes awarded
Categories: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace
Rabindranath Tagore becomes first non-European Literature laureate
C.V. Raman wins Physics Nobel - first Asian science laureate
Sveriges Riksbank establishes Economics prize in memory of Alfred Nobel
Malala Yousafzai becomes youngest laureate at age 17
John B. Goodenough becomes oldest laureate at age 97
India has produced several Nobel Laureates who have made significant contributions to various fields.
Born: May 7, 1861, Kolkata
Died: August 7, 1941
Key Work: Gitanjali
Significance: First non-European to win Literature Nobel
Other Contributions: Composed national anthems of India and Bangladesh
Born: November 7, 1888, Tiruchirappalli
Died: November 21, 1970
Key Contribution: Raman Effect
Significance: First Asian to win Nobel in Sciences
National Science Day: February 28 (commemorates Raman Effect discovery)
Born: August 26, 1910, Skopje (now North Macedonia)
Died: September 5, 1997, Kolkata
Key Contribution: Missionaries of Charity
Significance: Canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016
Indian Citizenship: 1951
Born: November 3, 1933, Santiniketan
Alma Mater: Presidency College, University of Calcutta
Key Contribution: Welfare Economics, Development Theory
Famous Theory: Capability Approach
Current Position: Professor at Harvard University
Born: 1952, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu
Citizenship: American, British
Key Contribution: Ribosome Structure
Position: President of Royal Society (2015-2020)
Education: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Born: January 11, 1954, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh
Organization: Bachpan Bachao Andolan
Key Contribution: Child Rights Activism
Achievement: Saved over 90,000 children from child labor
Co-winner: Malala Yousafzai
Born: February 21, 1961, Mumbai
Citizenship: American
Key Contribution: Development Economics
Co-winners: Esther Duflo (wife), Michael Kremer
Position: Professor at MIT
1. Who was the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize?
2. Which Nobel category was NOT part of Alfred Nobel's original will?
For experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light
For experiments with entangled photons
For the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots
For the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry
For her fight against the oppression of women in Iran
For championing human rights, democracy, and peaceful co-existence