Nobel Prize Winners Trivia

1. Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi was the recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights." How did she spend the USD 1.3 million prize money?

From Quiz The Answer Is... World Peace

Answer: She established a trust

Aung San Suu Kyi could not attend the Nobel Prize award ceremony in 1991 as she was still being placed under house arrest. Her two sons, Alexander and Dannian Kim, accepted the award on her behalf. The money was put to good use; Aung San Suu Kyi established a health and education trust for Burmese.

From Quiz Heal the World, the Noble Way

Answer: Ghana

Kofi Annan and the United Nations shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for their work in human rights, particularly in Africa, and focusing on the spread of AIDS in that continent. He served two terms in the job, retiring at the end of 2012, when he was replaced by Ban Ki-moon, from South Korea. After retirement, he was involved in several humanitarian exploits, and he passed away in 2018.

From Quiz The First Nobel Laureates : 1901

Answer: Swedish

Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm. He was a chemist, engineer and inventor and owned Bofors, an armaments company. In 1867, he patented dynamite, which was a more stable explosive and safer to use than similar products of the time. In his will, Nobel bequeathed his estate for the establishment of the Nobel Prizes, with annual awards in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and for the promotion of Peace.

From Quiz They Won the Nobel Prize

Answer: They were the first Nobel Prize winners

In 1901 the Nobel Foundation awarded the Noble Prize for the first time. The first people to be honored were: Wilhelm Röntgen in Physics, Jacobus H. van't Hoff in Chemistry, Emil A. von Behring in Physiology or Medicine, Sully Prudhomme in Literature, and Henry Durant and Frédéric Passy won the Peace Prize (jointly).

From Quiz UK Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Answer: International arbitration

Randal Cremer (he usually omitted his first name) was born in 1828, son of a coach driver. He graduated as a carpenter. When he moved to London in 1852, he enrolled in trade union politics. From 1885 to 1895 and from 1900 to his death, Randal was a Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party. Cremer was one of the founders of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a discussion forum for members of parliament from different countries seeking to resolve international tensions by peaceful negotiations and arbitration.

From Quiz Nobels Shining Under the Southern Cross

Answer: Australia

"Ozzies" take the lead under the Southern Cross with a total of 13 Nobel prizes in every category except the Peace Nobel Prize, which has never been won by an Australian so far.

From Quiz The 2013 Nobel Prize Winners Are...

Answer: Stockholm, Sweden

The only prize that is not awarded in Stockholm is the Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway. The Nobel Prizes started in 1901, five years after Alfred Nobel's death. Nobel, in his last will, wrote that all his fortune was to be divided in five parts, which would be used for the five categories of the prizes, "for those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind".

From Quiz A Prayer for Nobel Peace

Answer: Henry Dunant

Born to a wealthy and religious family, Dunant spent much of his youth working for the YMCA and other Christian groups, but it was his need for water rights for a business venture in Algeria that led him to seek out Napoleon III at Solferino. Horrified by the number of casualties, he organised civilians to provide aid and purchased materials and supplies from his own pocket. Writing of his experiences he proposed the need for a neutral body to care for wounded soldiers of all nationalities. He did not get his water rights and spent so much of his time and money furthering his humanitarian causes that he was soon bankrupt. He died virtually penniless in 1910.

From Quiz Bags of Glory

Answer: Physics and Chemistry

Marie Curie's 1903 Physics award was given both to her and her partner, Pierre Curie, along with Henri Becquerel, who was credited for his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity, and the Curies also won their award for studies into radioactivity. The 1911 Chemistry award was given for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium, and her detailed analysis of radium. In her honour, she has an element (atomic number 96) named after her called curium, as well as the curie, a symbol of radioactivity.

From Quiz Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Answer: Aung San Suu Kyi

At the ceremony, the Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Francis Sejested, called her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". By her actions Aung San Suu Kyi has become an international symbol of heroic and peaceful resistance against government oppression. When a military junta took over control of Burma in 1989 Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for six years as the leader of the National League for Democracy party. Since then she has been in, and out, of house arrest at the whim of the dictators.

From Quiz Peacemakers

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

The Russo-Japanese war was minor compared to struggles that proceeded or followed it but some historians believe its resolution delayed World War One by several years. After international efforts failed to bring a resolution, in June 1905 Roosevelt offered his services as a mediator. Russia was reluctant but agreed to meet in August 1905 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After several weeks a peace treaty was signed in September 1905. Given that Roosevelt was known as something of a hawk, his role as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, his heroics in the Spanish-American War, and his caution to 'talk softly but carry a big stick', his Peace Award seems ironic. In June, 1905, President Roosevelt offered his good offices as mediator between Russia and Japan, asking the belligerents to nominate plenipotentiaries to negotiate on the conditions of peace. In August they met at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and after some weeks of difficult negotiations concluded a peace treaty in September, 1905.

From Quiz Nobel Peace Prize Winners 1945-70

Answer: Albert Schweitzer

From Quiz Nobel Peace Prize Winners 1971-99

Answer: ICBL and Jody Williams

ICBL = International Campaign to Ban Landmines

From Quiz 20th Century Nobel Prize Winners in Literature

Answer: Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in India. At the age of 41, he was the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, with the prize citation: "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author." He declined the award of British Poet Laureate and knighthood. After his death in 1936, he was buried at Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey. Some of his famous works were: "Jungle Book" (1894), "Just So Stories" (1902), "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888), "Mandalay" (1890), and "Gunga Din" (1890).

From Quiz Nobel Prize Winners Literature 1936-1970

Answer: 1970

Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensible traditions of Russian literature.

From Quiz Female Nobel Prize Winners 1900-1950

Answer: Physics

She won the prize jointly with her husband, Pierre, and French physicist, Antoine Henri Becquerel. Becquerel was awarded for his "discovery of spontaneous radioactivity". The Curies received the award for the furthering of the work of Becquerel.

From Quiz Dutch Nobel Prize Winners

Answer: Physics

Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was born in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands in 1853. His work involved investigating the effects of cooling materials close to absolute zero, which led to a process to create liquid helium. It is for this work that he was recognised with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913. His work involving low temperatures also led to him discovering the phenomenon known as superconductivity, where electrical resistance decreases as temperature reduces.

From Quiz A Few Great Men

Answer: Jean Henri Dunant and Frederic Passy

Jean Henri Dunant, Switzerland, was the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross and initiator of the Geneva Convention. Frederic Passy, France, was the Founder and President of the first French Peace Society.

From Quiz The Noblest Women

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

She was born in 1923 and grew up in the difficult conditions of apartheid, which she resented immensely. However, even though she would not identify with the White minority, she had difficulty identifying with the Black majority, whom she supported. In her writings she was totally committed to exploring and exposing the social inequities of apartheid for all of the people of South Africa. Her earlier novels included, 'Which New Era Would That Be?'and 'Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet?' She was named Nobel Laureate in Literature in 1991.

From Quiz Heal the World, the Noble Way

Answer: Suez Canal Crisis

In 1956, the Second Arab-Israeli war broke out, after Egypt seized control of the Canal from France and Britain. Assisted by Israel, France and Britain invaded the Sinai Peninsula, in north-eastern Egypt. This action was widely condemned by many other countries, including USA and USSR. The United Nations issued a directive ordering the immediate withdrawal of the troops. Pearson, who was Secretary of External Affairs of Canada, worked closely with the UN Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld, to broker a peace in very difficult circumstances, and his efforts led to the foundation of the UN Peacekeeping Force. In 1963, he was elected as Prime Minister, a position he held until his retirement in 1968. He died from cancer in 1972.

From Quiz The First Nobel Laureates : 1901

Answer: Just the element

In his publication, "The Elements" (2009), Theodore Gray writes about Lise Meitner who should have shared the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics, but did not because of her gender. Gray said, "...a Nobel Prize is a cheap trinket in comparison to the distinction of having an element named in your honor." Although Meitner never received a Nobel Prize, she has been honoured with Meitnerium (Mt), element number 109. Element 102 in the Periodic Table of Elements is Nobelium (No) and is one of the ways that Nobel has been honoured for establishing the prizes that bear his name. The Nobel Prizes statutes preclude them being awarded to deceased persons. Nobelium is a synthetic element with a half-life of 2.8 hours (168 minutes). This means that it does not occur naturally on Earth and when it is produced in a reactor or collider, Nobelium does not last long, decaying into simpler elements.

From Quiz They Won the Nobel Prize

Answer: Rabindranath Tagore

The Indian Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a poet, musician and artist and had the privilege of being the first non-European person to win the Nobel Prize (in any category). In 1913 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works, essays, songs are about politics and personal affairs. He is still remembered today because his compositions were chosen as national anthems for India and Bangladesh. The Sri Lanka anthem was also inspired by his works.

From Quiz UK Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Answer: Sir Austen Chamberlain

Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) had studied politics in Cambridge, Paris and Berlin. In 1892 he was elected Member of Parliament, and from 1895 he held several government functions (among others Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1924 until 1929). Sir Austen Chamberlain decided to do something about the rising tension between France and Germany after the First World War. In 1925 the Treaties of Locarno were negotiated. The principal treaty of Locarno (signed by Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and the UK) established the western border of Germany "for eternity". Alas, Germany withdrew from this treaty a few years later, and the rest is history. Sir Austen's half-brother was Neville, Prime Minister from 1937-1940. The red herrings were sons of later Prime Ministers.

From Quiz The 2013 Nobel Prize Winners Are...

Answer: Canada

Munro, regarded as "master of the contemporary short story", has also received awards such as the Man Booker International Prize, the Giller Prize and the Canada's Governor's General Award. Some other short stories written by her include "Lives of Girls and Women", "Who Do You Think You Are?" and "Too Much Happiness".

From Quiz A Prayer for Nobel Peace

Answer: YMCA

John Raleigh Mott devoted much of his life to the YMCA and missionary work after receiving the call to spread the Gospel in college. As President of the YMCA World Committee, he organised youth exchanges, study groups and international youth camps. His international contacts in the YMCA allowed him to facilitate relief work for prisoners of war during both World Wars.

From Quiz Bags of Glory

Answer: Walter Gilbert

Sanger determined the complete structure of insulin through its peptide sequences, and also investigated DNA and RNA sequencing. His 'Sanger method' allowed long chains of DNA to be accurately and directly sequenced, a huge breakthrough at that point. Gilbert and Sanger also shared the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University, and Gilbert was the founder of the biotech companies Biogen and Myriad Genetics. Both studied and were awarded their degrees at Cambridge University in England, and Sanger received a first-class degree. Note that Gilbert and Sanger shared half an award - since Paul Berg won the other distinct half of the award within 1980, for his study into the biochemistry of nucleic acids.

From Quiz Top of the Class

Answer: Marie Curie

In 1903, Marie Curie (1867-1934) and her husband Pierre shared the Prize with Antoine Henri Becquerel. Becquerel received it "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity," while the Curies received it "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel." 1911 saw Marie Curie receiving the Nobel Prize for Chemistry "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element." Sadly, Marie Curie's death in 1934 was of aplastic anemia, which is today believed to have been a direct result of her exposure to radioactive materials over a prolonged period of time.

From Quiz South Africans Who Won the Prize

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.

From Quiz Nobel Peace Prize Winners 1945-70

Answer: Albert John Lutuli

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