What ethnicity won the most Nobel Prizes?

While ethnicity isn't officially tracked, Jewish people have won a disproportionately high number of Nobel Prizes, accounting for over 20% of all laureates despite being a tiny fraction of the world's population, particularly excelling in scientific fields, though data can vary by source. The United States leads by country, with a significant portion of its winners being immigrants, further highlighting demographic contributions beyond nationality alone.

Which ethnicity has the most Nobel Prizes?

Jews have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes in economics, 30% of those in medicine, 25% in physics, 20% in chemistry, 15% in literature and 10% of the Nobel Peace Prizes. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been just over 900 Nobel Prizes awarded.

What percentage of Nobel Prizes have been won by Jews?

A total of 543 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 817 laureates and 23 organizations during this 110 year history [3]. At least 181 (21.5%) recipients were Jewish, and at most 659 were Gentiles.

Why have Jews won so many Nobel Prizes?

The two principal theories that have been advanced to explain this are that Jews have high intelligence and, alternatively, that they have cultural values that promote success. We review the evidence and present new data suggesting that high intelligence is the more important of these two factors.

What nation has the most Nobel Prize winners?

Americans lead by a wide margin with 428 Nobel Prizes in total followed by the UK (145) and Germany (116).

Four people who won the Nobel Prize twice in their lifetime

How many Muslims got the Nobel Prize?

So far, twelve Muslims have won the Nobel Prize. They are; Anwar Sadat ( 1978)- He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Yasser Arafat (1994)- He also won the Peace Prize; he was the president of Palestine.

Has Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize?

The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to United States president Barack Obama (b. 1961) for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

Which religion won the most Nobel Prizes?

In an estimate by Baruch Shalev, between 1901 and 2000 about two-thirds of Nobel Prize winners were either Christians or had a Christian background.

Why do the USA have so many Nobel Prizes?

According to experts, it's strong historic investment in basic science, academic freedom for researchers and patience to see results.

How many American Jews have won the Nobel Prize?

At least 221 Jews and people of half- or three-quarters-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize,1 accounting for 22% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2025, and constituting 36% of all US recipients2 during the same period.

What did the Jews contribute to science?

Famous Jewish Scientists

Jonas Salk — Developed the first polio vaccine. Leo Szilard — Physicist, proved the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction in 1933.

Why didn't Oppenheimer get the Nobel Prize?

J. Robert Oppenheimer didn't win a Nobel Prize because his work, while groundbreaking, lacked the singular, publishable, major discovery typically required, and his association with the controversial atomic bomb project made him a difficult candidate, with the committee hesitant to honor the bomb's creation, despite his leadership and nominations for physics prizes. Other factors included his broad scientific interests and the work being classified, preventing widespread recognition of his specific theoretical contributions. 

Has a black woman ever won the Nobel Prize?

Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), The first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She was an American novelist, essayist, and professor who wrote about the Black experience, particularly Black women.

Who has refused a Nobel Prize?

Two individuals voluntarily refused a Nobel Prize: Jean-Paul Sartre (Literature, 1964) for rejecting all official honors, and Le Duc Tho (Peace, 1973) because peace hadn't been achieved in Vietnam, though others were forced to decline by their governments, like Pasternak.
 

Do Nobel winners get paid?

Each recipient, known as a laureate, receives a green gold medal plated with 24 karat gold, a diploma, and a monetary award. As of 2023, the Nobel Prize monetary award is 11,000,000 kr, equivalent to approximately US$1,035,000.

Which family has won 5 Nobel Prizes?

The Curie family holds a unique record as the only family to win five Nobel Prizes. Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering work on radiation phenomena. Marie further distinguished herself with the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discoveries of radium and polonium.

Has anyone under 18 won a Nobel Prize?

On October 2014, Malala Yousafzai was announced as the winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. At age 17, Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel laureate ever, and second Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize.

Which Nobel scientists believe in God?

Nobel laureates Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Bertrand Russell, Richard Feynman, James Watson, and Vitaly Ginzburg have all expressed their thoughts on the existence of God.

Has a pope ever won a Nobel Prize?

Every pope has been nominated at one point or another since Benedict XV, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, but so far none of them have ever become Nobel laureates.

Which country never won the Nobel Prize?

Answer: The Nobel Prize is awarded to individuals and organizations, not countries. However, countries often try to claim credit for prizes awarded to their citizens. Montenegro and South Sudan are the only countries that have never won a Nobel Prize.

Who is the most controversial Nobel Prize winner?

There's no single "most" controversial winner, but Yasser Arafat, Henry Kissinger, and Fritz Haber are consistently cited, with Arafat (1994 Peace Prize) sparking resignations from the Nobel Committee due to his PLO history, Kissinger (1973 Peace Prize) criticized for Vietnam War actions, and Haber (1918 Chemistry) for developing chemical weapons despite his fertilizer process invention. Other highly controversial figures include Barack Obama, António Egas Moniz (lobotomy), and Bob Dylan, highlighting controversies across Peace, Science, and Literature.
 

Can a Nobel Peace Prize be revoked?

A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time.

How many Jews won Nobel Prizes?

Of the 965 individual recipients of the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences between 1901 and 2025, at least 220 have been Jews or people with at least one Jewish parent, representing 22% of all recipients.

Who is the only person to win a Nobel Prize twice?

If receiving a Nobel Prize is the highest recognition for a scientist, being awarded twice by the Swedish Academy of Sciences is an extraordinary fact that, so far, only four people can boast: Frederick Sanger, Linus Pauling, John Bardeen and Marie Curie.