List of black Nobel laureates
The Nobel Prize is an annual, international prize first awarded in 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. An associated prize in Economics has been awarded since 1969.[1] As of 2019 Nobel Prizes had been awarded to 916 individuals,[2] of whom 16 were Black recipients.
Black people have received awards in three of six award categories: twelve in Peace, three in Literature, and one in Economics. The first Black recipient, American Ralph Bunche, was awarded the Peace Prize in 1950. The most recent, Abiy Ahmed, was awarded his Peace Prize in 2019.
Two Black laureates – Barack Obama and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – were presidents of their countries (the United States and Liberia respectively) when they were awarded the prize, while Ahmed was Prime Minister of Ethiopia when he was announced as winner.
Economics
One Black person have been given the Nobel Prize in Economics.
Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | W. Arthur Lewis | First and (so far) only black person to win a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; first West Indian to win a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences[3] |
Literature
Three Black people have been given the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Wole Soyinka | First Black person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature[4] | ||
1992 | Derek Walcott[5] | |||
1993 | Toni Morrison | First Black woman to win a Nobel Prize[6] |
Peace
12 Black people have been given the Nobel Peace Prize.
Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Ralph Bunche | First Black person to win a Nobel Prize[7] | ||
1960 | Albert John Luthuli | First Black African to win a Nobel Prize | ||
1964 | Martin Luther King, Jr | Youngest African American to win a Nobel Prize | ||
1984 | Desmond Tutu | |||
1993 | Nelson Mandela | |||
2001 | Kofi Annan | |||
2004 | Wangari Maathai | First Black African woman to win a Nobel Prize and first and only environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize | ||
2009 | Barack Obama | |||
2011 | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | |||
2011 | Leymah Gbowee | |||
2018 | Denis Mukwege | |||
2019 | Abiy Ahmed |
See also
- List of Nobel laureates
- List of Latino and Hispanic Nobel laureates
- List of Christian Nobel laureates
- List of Muslim Nobel laureates
- List of Jewish Nobel laureates
References
- "Nobel Prize" (2007), in Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 14 November 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online:
An additional award, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden and was first awarded in 1969
- "All Nobel Laureates". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- "Unsung Heroes". Time. 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- "Wole Soyinka Biography". Nobelprize.org.
- http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/poetry/walcott_derek.html#bio/biblio
- Grimes, William (1983-10-08). "Toni Morrison Is '93 Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
- Ralph Bunche, PBS.