THE NOBEL PRIZES

The annual Nobel prizes have come to represent the highest achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, or peace. With the weight of a century behind them, there are no more prestigious awards than these, and they are based entirely on merit. In his will Alfred Nobel stipulated that the income from his invested estate should "annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. The prizes were to be international in that no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not." The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is sometimes called the Nobel prize in economics, although no provision was made for it in his will. The annual selections are made by different institutions as follows and are eagerly awaited:

Physics - Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Chemistry - Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Physiology or Medicine - Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute
Literature - Swedish Academy
Peace - Norwegian Nobel Committee

Alfred Nobel (1833-96) was a Swedish industrialist and inventor who harnessed the unstable nature of nitroglycerine, a powerful explosive, by mixing it with silica to form a more stable solid which he named dynamite. He patented this product and marketed it successfully, building factories in many countries and retiring a very rich man. His interests were wide-ranging in literature and social issues as well as in the sciences, and are reflected in the subject areas of the prizes.

This Swiss stamp at right is one of a pair issued jointly with Sweden. The other stamp depicts the Swiss chemist Karrer, a Nobel laureate in 1937. Nobel's taming of nitroglycerine facilitated the building of the great Alpine tunnels at St. Gotthard and Simplon; the stamp shows a tunnel cross section - which one?

Philately would be the poorer without the Nobel prizes which provide an instant recognition factor. The Swedish postal service excels in chronicling the achievements of the laureates, and many other countries follow suit in honoring their own nationals. The United States Postal Service is slow off the mark in drawing attention to the many Americans whose achievements have dominated their fields. One must be dead ten years to appear on a U.S. stamp, and even with this restriction many of our finest science laureates are still not recognized, except for Einstein and Millikan.

The stamp booklet issued on the 100th anniversary of the date of Nobel's last will and testament shows a fragment of that document, the Paris mansion that was Nobel's home, a laboratory at Bjorkborn, and the occasion of of the award of the first Nobel prize in physics to Roentgen in 1901. The more recent booklet at left above features a portrait of Nobel that was a joint issue with the USA and the medals for the different prizes by the Swedish awarding institutions.

To view all stamps of Nobel laureates published by Swedish Post Stamps in their annual series, many of which appear on these pages, click here.