The First Recipients of Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize which is the most prestigious award in the world is annually awarded by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Karolinska Institute, the Swedish Academy and the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The awards are started in 1901. Six laureates have received this award more than one prize, UNHCR twice in peace, John Bardeen twice in physics, and Frederick Sanger twice in chemistry. International Committee of the Red Cross has received the Nobel Prize three times in physics. The two others have been awarded twice but not on the same field. They are Marie Curie in Physics and Chemistry and Linus Pauling in Chemistry and Peace.

Here are the first persons to receive Nobel Prize who have received the Nobel Prize in 1901

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen:

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen was born on 27 March 1845. He was a German physicist who won the first Nobel Prize in Physics for his extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the remarkable Röntgen rays or X-rays. On 8 November 1895, he produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today that was known as X-rays or Röntgen rays. In 2004 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) named after him the element 111, roentgenium, a radioactive element with multiple unstable isotopes in his honor. He died on 10 February 1923 from carcinoma of the intestine.

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff:

Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff was a Dutch physical and organic chemist born on 30 August 1852 at Rotterdam in Netherlands. He was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions. From young age he was interested in science and actively part in botanical excursions. He is best known for his discoveries in chemical kinetics, osmotic pressure, chemical equilibrium, and stereochemistry.  The work of Van 't Hoff in these subjects help found the discipline of physical chemistry as it is today. Van ‘t off died on 1 March 1911 suffering from tuberculosis.

Emil Adolf von Behring:

Emil Adolf von Behring was born on 15 March 1854 in Hansdorf the present Lawice in Province of Prussia now Poland. He was a German physiologist who received the Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his discovery of a diphtheria antitoxin. Thereby he opened new doors in medicine. At that time diphtheria was a major cause of death of many children. He was widely known as a "savior of children" for his discovery. He was died on 31 March 1917 at Marburg in Hessen-Nassau.

Sully Prudhomme:

Sully Prudhomme born on 16 March 1839 in Paris was a French poet and littérateur, and was the first ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901 for his poetic composition, which gives evidence of elevated idealism, artistic perfection. He originally studied to be an engineer but turned out to philosophy and later to poetry. He declared it as his intent to create scientific poetry for modern times. He was sincere and melancholic, his work displays characteristics of its own. He died suddenly on 6 September 1907 due to his poor health suffering attacks of paralysis.

Henry Dunant:

Jean Henri Dunant also known as Henry Dunant was born on 8 May 1828 in Geneva to a businessman. In 1901 he received the first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy. His father and Mother were active in helping orphan, sick and the poor. Dunant was a Swiss businessman and social activist. During a business trip in 1859, he was witnessed consequences of the Battle of Solferino in the present Italy. He recorded his memories and experiences in a book “A Memory of Solferino”. It inspired the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863.

Frédéric Passy:

Frédéric Passy was born in Paris on May 20, 1822 to a veteran of Waterloo, Felix Passy. He was a French economist and a joint winner first Nobel Peace Prize 1901 along with Henry Dunant. He became a professional economist in 1857. His reputation was established through his “Mélanges économiques” in 1857, essays and a lecture series given at the University of Montpellier. He became a member of the French “Académie des sciences morales et politiques” in 1877. He was died on June 12, 1912.