The Nobel Prizes were established according to the will of the Swedish industrialist and inventor, Alfred Nobel and are awarded to individuals who have excelled in the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, economics and peace. Since 1951, eleven South African-born individuals have been awarded.[1]
Laureates
| Year | Image | Laureate | Born | Died | Field | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizens | ||||||
| 1951 | 
|
Max Theiler | 30 January 1899 Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa |
11 August 1972 New Haven, Connecticut, United States |
Physiology or Medicine | "for his discoveries concerning yellow fever and how to combat it."[2] |
| 1960 | 
|
Albert Luthuli[a] | c. 1898 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
27 July 1967 KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
Peace | "for his non-violent struggle against apartheid."[3] |
| 1979 | 
|
Allan MacLeod Cormack | 23 February 1924 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
7 May 1998 Winchester, Massachusetts, United States |
Physiology or Medicine | "for the development of computer assisted tomography."[4] (awarded together with Godfrey Hounsfield) |
| 1984 | 
|
Desmond Tutu | 7 October 1931 Klerksdorp, North West, South Africa |
26 December 2021 Cape Town, South Africa |
Peace | "for his role as a unifying leader figure in the non-violent campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa."[5] |
| 1991 | 
|
Nadine Gordimer | 20 November 1923 Springs, Gauteng, South Africa |
13 July 2014 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
Literature | "who through her magnificent epic writing has - in the words of Alfred Nobel - been of very great benefit to humanity."[6] |
| 1993 | 
|
Nelson Mandela | 18 July 1918 Mvezo, OR Tambo, Eastern Cape, South Africa |
5 December 2013 Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
Peace | "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa."[7] |
|
Frederik Willem de Klerk | 18 March 1936 Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
11 November 2021 Cape Town, South Africa | |||
| 2002 | 
|
Sydney Brenner | 13 January 1927 Germiston, Transvaal, South Africa |
5 April 2019 Singapore |
Physiology or Medicine | "for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death."[8] (awarded together with H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston) |
| 2003 | 
|
John Maxwell Coetzee[b] | 9 February 1940 Cape Town, South Africa |
— | Literature | "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider."[10] |
| 2013 | 
|
Michael Levitt | 9 May 1947 Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa |
— | Chemistry | "for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems."[11] (awarded together with Martin Karplus and Arieh Warshel) |
| Expatriates | ||||||
| 1982 | 
|
Aaron Klug[c] | 11 August 1926 Želva, Ukmergė, Lithuania |
20 November 2018 Cambridge, United Kingdom |
Chemistry | "for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes."[13] |
Members of laureate organizations
The following South African-based organizations and individuals were significant members who contributed largely in making a larger organization become a Nobel laureate.
| Year | Image | Individual/ organization |
Born | Died | Laureate organization | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 
|
South African Red Cross Society (SARCS) | founded in 1921 in Cape Town, South Africa | League of Red Cross Societies (with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)) |
"for promoting the principles of the Geneva Convention and cooperation with the U.N."[14] | |
| 1965 | 
|
UNICEF South Africa | founded in 1946 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa | United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) | "for its effort to enhance solidarity between nations and reduce the difference between rich and poor states"[15] | |
| 2007 |
|
Debra Roberts[d] | 13 January 1961 Harare, Zimbabwe |
— | Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (with Al Gore (b. 1948)) |
"for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."[17] |
Nominations
The first South African nominee for the Nobel Prize was a certain P. B. de Ville who was unsuccessfully recommended twice (in 1930 and 1932) by South African Minister of Health and Social Welfare Karl Bremer (1885–1953).[18] Since then, other South African influential figures and organizations started receiving nominations as well. The following list are the nominees with verified nominations from the Nobel Committee and recognized international organizations. There are also other purported nominees whose nominations are yet to be verified since the archives are revealed 50 years after,[19] among them:
- For Physics: Tikvah Alper (1909–1995), Mike Pentz (1924–1995), Friedel Sellschop (1930–2002), Frank Nabarro (1916–2006), Stanley Mandelstam (1928–2016), Jan H van der Merwe (1922–2016) and George F. R. Ellis (born 1939).
- For Physiology or Medicine: Christiaan Barnard[20] (1922–2001) and Phillip Tobias[21] (1925–2012).
- For Literature: Mary Renault (1905–1983), Laurens van der Post (1906–1996), Es'kia Mphahlele[22] (1919–2008), Dan Jacobson (1929–2014), André Brink (1935–2015), Peter Abrahams (1919–2017), Karel Schoeman[23][24] (1939–2017), Wilbur Smith[25] (1933–2021), Athol Fugard (born 1932), Breyten Breytenbach (born 1939), Sindiwe Magona (born 1943), Zoë Wicomb[26] (born 1948), Zakes Mda[27] (born 1948), Antjie Krog[28] (born 1952), Ivan Vladislavic[29] (born 1957), Gcina Mhlophe (born 1958) and Damon Galgut (born 1963).
- For Peace: Oliver Tambo (1917–1993), Walter Sisulu (1912–2003), Fatima Meer (1928–2010), Thabo Mbeki (born 1942), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (born 1949), African National Congress (founded in 1912), International Defence and Aid Fund (founded in 1956) and Centre for Human Rights (founded in 1986).
Nominees
| Image | Nominee | Born | Died | Years Nominated | Citation | Nominator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physics | ||||||
|
|
Johannes Frederik ("Hannes") de Beer[30] | 1930 | 1966[e] | "for the development of the spark chamber"[35][36] | Yozo Nogami (1918-2008) from University of Tokyo Japan
| |
| Chemistry | ||||||
|
|
John Bockris | 5 January 1923 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | 7 July 2013 in Gainesville, Florida, United States | 1970[f] | "for his research on the first model of the electrode-electrolyte surface that include the dipole moment of the solvent."[37] | T. M. Salem (?) Egypt
|
| Physiology or Medicine | ||||||
|
|
Joseph Gillman[38] | 3 December 1907 in Pretoria, South Africa | 5 September 1981 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France | 1953 | "for their contributions in addressing malnutrition and pellagra in South Africa."[39][40] |
|
|
|
Theodore Gillman[40] | c. 1917 in South Africa | 12 July 1971 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | |||
| Literature | ||||||
|
J. R. R. Tolkien | 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein, Free State, South Africa | 2 September 1973 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England | 1961 | The Hobbit (1937) The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955) The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (1962) The Road Goes Ever On (1967)[41] |
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963)  United Kingdom
|
| 1967 | Gösta Holm (1916–2011)  Sweden
| |||||
| 1969 | Richard E. Wycherley (1909–1986) United Kingdom
| |||||
|
|
Nadine Gordimer | 20 November 1923 in Springs, Gauteng, South Africa | 13 July 2014 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | 1972, 1973 | A World of Strangers (1958) The Conservationist (1974) Burger's Daughter (1979) July's People (1981) |
Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991) Sweden
|
|
Alan Paton | 11 January 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | 12 April 1988 in Botha's Hill, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | 1972 | Cry, The Beloved Country (1948) Too Late the Phalarope (1953) Tales from a Troubled Land (1961) Ah, but Your Land Is Beautiful (1983) |
Astley Cooper Partridge ( 1901–?)  South Africa
|
| Peace | ||||||
|
|
P. B. de Ville | ? South Africa |
? South Africa |
1930, 1932 | [18] | Karl Bremer (1885–1953) South Africa
|
|
Jan Smuts | 24 May 1870 in Riebeek West, Swartland, Western Cape, South Africa | 11 September 1950 in Irene, Gauteng, South Africa | 1945 | "for his efforts to end World War II and for South Africa's main role in the war of helping the allies in preventing Germany and Italy from conquering North Africa."[42] | Halvdan Koht (1873–1965)  Norway
|
|
|
Marcus [Mordechai Aryeh] Wald | 1 June 1901 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania | 12 March 1957 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | 1949 | "for his book on Jewish comprehensions of the peace problem."[43] | D. L. Smit (?) South Africa
|
|
Helen Suzman | 7 November 1917 in Germiston, Transvaal, South Africa | 1 January 2009 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | 1972 | [44] | Richard Luyt (1915–1994) South Africa
|
|
|
Stephen Biko | 18 December 1946 in Tarkastad, Eastern Cape, South Africa | 12 September 1977 in Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa | 1978 |  American Friends Service Committee
| |
|
Beyers Naudé | 10 May 1915 in Roodepoort, Gauteng, South Africa | 7 September 2004 in Johannesburg, South Africa | 1993 | "for his role in the dismantling of apartheid, as fighter for human rights, and prophet and humane pastor to all who suffered under apartheid." | |
|
Zackie Achmat | 21 March 1962 in Vrededorp, Gauteng, South Africa | — | 2004 | "for having helped to galvanize a global movement to provide hope and gain access to treatment for those with HIV and AIDS."[45] | |
|
|
Treatment Action Campaign | founded in 1998 in Cape Town, South Africa | ||||
|
14 South African women (part of the 1000 PeaceWomen)[g] | began in 2003 in Bern, Switzerland | 2005 | "in recognition of women's efforts and visibility in promoting peace all over the world."[46] | Ruth-Gaby Vermont-Mangold (born 1941)  Switzerland
| |
|
Elon Musk | 28 June 1971 in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa | — | 2024 | "for his adamant defense of dialogue, free speech and [enabling] the possibility to express one’s views' in a continuously more polarized world."[47] | Marius Nilsen (born 1984) |
Notes
- ^ Albert Luthuli received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1961. During the selection process in 1960, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Luthuli therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1960 one year later, in 1961.[3]
- ^ On 2002, Coetzee moved to Australia but he was still awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature as a South African citizen. Then, on 6 March 2006, he became a full Australian citizen.[9]
- ^ Aaron Klug was born in Lithuania to Jewish parents with whom he emigrated to South Africa at the age of two. He received his secondary and tertiary education at the Durban High School and University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg respectively. He studied physics and obtained his Master of Science degree at the University of Cape Town.[12]
- ^ Debra C. Roberts was one of the six co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change when it won the 2007 Peace Prize with U.S. Vice President Al Gore.[16]
- ^ J. Fr. de Beer was nominated jointly with J.W.Keuffel,[31] T.E.Cranshaw,[32] S.Miyamoto[33] and Shuji Fukui[34] the only time.
- ^ J. Bockris was nominated jointly with Herbert Spencer Harned (1888–1969) and Walter Houser Brattain (1902–1987) for the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Brattain was subsequently awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.
- ^ The 14 South African women who formed part in the 1000 PeaceWomen were Adelle Ptgieter (b. 1974), Busisiwe Virginia Hlomuka (1965–2005), Cordelia Nozukile Tshaka (b. 1951), Daphne Jansen (b. 1956), Edith Matshikiza (b. 1943), Jenet Dlamini (b. 1967), Lesley Ann Foster (b. 1967), Lorna Philander (b. 1960), Mirriam Malala (b. 1936), Nikiwe Nyamakazi (b. 1958), Nosandla Malindi (b. 1960), Regina Makunga (b. 1950), Rolene Miller (b. 1938) and Veronica Khosa (b. 1927).
References
- ^ "Nobel Prizes and South African Laureates". sahistory.org.za. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1951 Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ a b The Nobel Peace Prize 1961 Archived 2018-08-15 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1979 Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 1984 Archived 2021-07-12 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 1991 Archived 2018-04-12 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 1993 Archived 2023-05-11 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2002 Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ "JM Coetzee Became an Australian Citizen". Mail & Guardian. 6 March 2006. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Literature 2003 Archived 2018-07-02 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 Archived 2020-05-22 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ Aaron Klug – Biographical Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1982 Archived 2018-06-13 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 1963 Archived 2021-07-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 1965 Archived 2021-07-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ Debra Roberts – IPCC Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine ipcc.ch
- ^ The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 Archived 2018-11-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ a b Nomination archive – P de Ville Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ "Nomination and selection of Nobel laureates". nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ "Christiaan Neethling Barnard | South African History Online". sahistory.org. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Professor Emeritus Phillip Tobias | South African History Online". sahistory.org.za. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Es'kia Mphahlele". unisa.ac.za. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ Karen van der Berg (9 June 2017). "'Karel could have won the Nobel Prize'". jougesin.solidariteit.co.za. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Karel Schoeman: South Africa's unknown literary legend". Daily Sabah. 5 May 2017. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Wilbur Smith: Greatest Historical Novelist of Our Time?". historicalnovelsociety.org. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize for Literature: Who Could & Should Win". Boxwalla. 2 October 2022. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Producer advocates for author's Nobel Prize nomination". Berea Mail. 19 April 2019. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Nobel Prize in Literature 2019. Why Maryse Condé and Antjie Krog should be the laureates". Diggit Magazine. 5 November 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ Emily Temple (26 September 2022). "Here are the bookies' odds for the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature". Literary Hub. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ Who's Who in Atoms, 5th ed. (George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1969), vol. 1, p.344
- ^ "Nomination Archive - J W Keuffel". NobelPrize.org. April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ "Nomination Archive - T E Cranshaw". NobelPrize.org. April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ "Nomination Archive - S Miyamoto". NobelPrize.org. April 2020. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ "Nomination Archive - S Fukui". NobelPrize.org. April 2020. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ Roberts, Arthur (May 1961). "Review of Scientific Instruments 32 482 (1961) "Development of the Spark Chamber: A Review"". Review of Scientific Instruments. 32 (5): 482–485. doi:10.1063/1.1717420. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ "Nomination Archive - J F de Beer". NobelPrize.org. April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ Nomination archive – John O'Mara Bockris Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ "In Memoriam: Joseph Gillman". journals.co.za. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ Nomination archive – Joseph Gillman Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ a b Nomination archive – Theodore Gillman Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ Nomination archive – John Ronald Reuel Tolkien Archived 2022-10-06 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ Nomination archive – Jan Christian Smuts Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ Nomination archive – Marcus Wald Archived 2023-02-23 at the Wayback Machine nobelprize.org
- ^ "The National Archives of Norway [Det Norske Nobelinstitutt: Nominasjoner til Nobels fredspris]". media-digitalarkivet-no. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "U.S. Quaker Organization Nominates Treatment Action Campaign, Zackie Achmat for 2004 Nobel Peace Prize". Kaiser Health News. 2 December 2003. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ PeaceWomen Across the Globe Archived 2023-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, www.1000peacewomen.org, retrieved 1 February 2023.
- ^ "Frp-representant nominerte Elon Musk til Nobels fredspris". Dagsavisen. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
External links
| Prizes |  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laureates |
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| Nominees |
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| Organisations | |||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
1 Nobel Memorial Prize (not one of the original Nobel Prizes). | |||||||||
This page was last edited on 15 March 2024, at 23:42