STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – The Nobel prizes are to be introduced this week, beginning with the award for medication or physiology on Monday.
The awards, that are additionally given for achievements in physics, chemistry, literature and peace, include a prize quantity of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) whereas the popularity alone can spur ebook gross sales and yield world fame.
WHAT IS THE NOBEL PRIZE?
The Nobel Prize was created by rich Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who in his will dictated that his property ought to be used to fund “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.
Nobel died in 1895 nevertheless it took till 1901, following a authorized battle over his will, earlier than the primary prizes have been awarded.
Nobel named the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to award the prizes for chemistry and physics, the Swedish Academy for literature, Sweden’s Karolinska Institute medical college for physiology or medication, and the Norwegian parliament for peace. It isn’t identified why Nobel selected Norway, which on the time was in a union with Sweden, at hand out the peace prize.
In 1968, when Sweden’s central financial institution was celebrating its three hundredth anniversary, it established the Prize in Financial Sciences in Reminiscence of Alfred Nobel with a donation to the Nobel Basis. The prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in line with the identical ideas as the opposite prizes.
FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS LAUREATES
Notable Nobel laureates embody scientists Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and Marie Curie, authors Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus, and inspirational leaders equivalent to Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mom Teresa.
Whereas most achievements are nonetheless celebrated, some awards haven’t aged nicely, equivalent to Egas Moniz’s 1949 prize in physiology or medication for the since banned and discredited follow of lobotomy.
Many peace prizes have additionally been criticized, together with these for Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. Failure to present the prize to Mahatma Gandhi earlier than his loss of life in 1948 can also be seen by many as a mistake.
THE FESTIVITIES
The Nobel prizes are offered to the laureates on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s loss of life. The peace prize is handed out by the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee in Oslo, whereas the opposite prizes are offered by the Swedish king in Stockholm’s Live performance Corridor.
Throughout the night some 1,300 friends are handled to a lavish banquet at Stockholm Metropolis Corridor. The banquet requires intensive planning and the meals is ready by a head chef main a big crew of cooks whereas greater than 200 waiters serve up the varied programs and wines.
Months earlier than the banquet, three menus instructed by chosen cooks are offered to the Nobel Basis for tasting. The chosen menu is stored secret till the day of the Nobel Banquet.
The menus intention to have a contact of Scandinavia and final yr’s menu included a starter of baked beetroot with seaweed cream and sturgeon caviar, a predominant course of cod loin filled with king crab, and dessert of baked chocolate cream with a lingonberries compote.
($1 = 10.1509 Swedish crowns)
