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Quiz about South Africans Who Won the Prize
Quiz about South Africans Who Won the Prize

South Africans Who Won the Prize Quiz

Seven South Africans (born or naturalized) walked away with Nobel Prizes in the 20th century. Come and shake their hands.

A multiple-choice quiz by sterretjie101. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
sterretjie101
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
302,020
Updated
Jul 23 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
341
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Every year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in five categories. (The Nobel Prize in Economics was not established till 1968 and is not counted). In the period 1901 to 1999, six born South Africans and one naturalized one swept the board in four of the five categories. What category escaped their expertise? Hint


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Question 2 of 10
2. Who was the only South African woman awarded a Nobel Prize during the twentieth century? Hint


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Question 3 of 10
3. Two South Africans shared the Nobel Peace Prize. In what year were Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk so honoured? Hint


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Question 4 of 10
4. Nelson Mandela's third wife has the distinction of being the only woman married to the heads of state in two different countries. One of the countries is South Africa, but what is the other? Hint


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Question 5 of 10
5. Known worldwide by the initials F.W., what are the first names of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ex-president de Klerk? Hint


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Question 6 of 10
6. Dr Max Theiler was the first South African recipient of a Nobel Prize - in 1951. He was acknowledged for his work in the field of medicine, especially focussed on what disease? Hint


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Question 7 of 10
7. When chief Albert Luthuli received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960, what was his position in the African National Congress (ANC)? Hint


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Question 8 of 10
8. One of the two Nobel winner for Medicine was later knighted. Who was the other winner? Hint


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Question 9 of 10
9. Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. Eight years before that, he was appointed bishop in which country in southern Africa. In what country was he appointed? Hint


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Question 10 of 10
10. In 1982 the Nobel Prize for Chemistry went to a man born in Lithuania. However, his family moved to South Africa when he was only two years old and that why he is included in this list. Name the man in question. Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Every year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in five categories. (The Nobel Prize in Economics was not established till 1968 and is not counted). In the period 1901 to 1999, six born South Africans and one naturalized one swept the board in four of the five categories. What category escaped their expertise?

Answer: Physics

 South Africans came out ahead with the Peace Prize, awarded to four prominent figures. Medicine and Physiology produced two, Chemistry one and Literature also a lone winner.
2. Who was the only South African woman awarded a Nobel Prize during the twentieth century?

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

 Receiving the prize for Literature in 1991, Nadine Gordimer was born in Springs near Johannesburg in 1923. Her first full-length novel, 'The Lying Days', was published in 1953. She also published many collections and contributed to the New Yorker and other journals.

Olive Schreiner was a female writer, famous for her book 'Story of an African Farm' that she wrote under a male penname in the conservative 19th century. Emma Renzi is an opera star with an international career. Hildagonda Duckitt is another writer, before the Nobel Prize was available, who wrote on domestic subjects and produced cookbooks.

By the way, in 2004 the Literature Prize was again awarded to a South African writer, JM Coetzee.
3. Two South Africans shared the Nobel Peace Prize. In what year were Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk so honoured?

Answer: 1993

 Both were presidents of South Africa; de Klerk was Mandela's predecessor. Mandela was chosen as Time Magazine's Man of the Year. He and de Klerk appeared on the front cover together with Rabin and Arafat.

Mandela was born in 1918 and became a chief of Mvezo. After being jailed for twenty-seven years for conspiracy to overthrow the government, he was released in 1990 and became president four years later. The closest Mandela might have come to the Literature Prize was his autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom'.
4. Nelson Mandela's third wife has the distinction of being the only woman married to the heads of state in two different countries. One of the countries is South Africa, but what is the other?

Answer: Mozambique

 Grace Machel was married to president Samora Machel of Mozambique, a country bordering South Africa to the north-east. She was First Lady of Mozambique from 1975 to 1986 when she was widowed. She married the South African president in 1998 and was First Lady for a year until her husband retired.
5. Known worldwide by the initials F.W., what are the first names of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ex-president de Klerk?

Answer: Frederik Willem

 Many South African politicians are known by their initials, probably because of the custom of having a number of first names.

F.W. de Klerk was president from 1989 to 1994 and retired from politics in 1997. Having a bald pate, he once remarked that voters need only locate the only bald party leader on the voting ballot and make the cross next to the photo.
6. Dr Max Theiler was the first South African recipient of a Nobel Prize - in 1951. He was acknowledged for his work in the field of medicine, especially focussed on what disease?

Answer: Yellow fever

 Max Theiler was the son of Sir Arnold Theiler, renowned bacteriologist and vetenarian. Theiler junior left South Africa to study in London. He specialized in microbiology and was awarded the prize for both discovering the virus causing yellow fever and the vaccine counteracting it. Yellow fever is so named because of the jaundice accompanying it, and is endemic in Africa and South America.
7. When chief Albert Luthuli received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960, what was his position in the African National Congress (ANC)?

Answer: President

 The son of a missionary, Luthuli was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) but returned as a small boy to the family's roots in the Natal province of South Africa. Teacher and preacher, he became chief of his tribe in 1933. President of the ANC from 1952 to 1967, he promoted non-violent protest against the government in power.

Interestingly, Oliver Tambo who succeeded Luthuli as president of the ANC, was honoured when the Johannesburg International Airport was named after him.
8. One of the two Nobel winner for Medicine was later knighted. Who was the other winner?

Answer: Allan Cormack

 Together with fellow physicist Godfrey Hounsfield, Cormack is responsible for the well-known CAT scanner, formally in the field of computer-assisted tomography. Cormack was born in Johannesburg and studied in Cape Town. After time at Cambridge and Harvard, he and his wife became naturalized US citizen in 1966.

After his death, he was awarded the South African Order of Mapungubwe for his achievements.

Dr Chris Barnard was the renowed heart surgeon, Atherstone was the first South African doctor to perform an operation under anaesthetics, but Lawrence Green is a writer.
9. Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. Eight years before that, he was appointed bishop in which country in southern Africa. In what country was he appointed?

Answer: Lesotho

 The Reverend Desmond Tutu is a well-loved figure in South Africa. He was born in Klerksdorp. Later he studied at King's College, London. After serving as Anglican Dean of Johannesburg, he was elected bishop of Lesotho, the small country enclosed by South Africa. He has been honoured with numerous prizes and awards since 1984.
10. In 1982 the Nobel Prize for Chemistry went to a man born in Lithuania. However, his family moved to South Africa when he was only two years old and that why he is included in this list. Name the man in question.

Answer: Aaron Klug

 Dr Aaron Klug was honoured for developing the crystallographic microscope and structural elucidation of nucleic acid-protein complexes. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand and Cape Town before moving to England. In 2005 he received the Order of Mapungubwe for his contribution to medical science.

Dr Abdurrahman was an early medical pioneer while dr Biccard was the first South African doctor to use chloroform. The red herring was James Rose Innes, attorney-general of the Cape province and Chief Justice from 1914 to 1927.
Source: Author sterretjie101

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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