The Nobel Prize is an annual, international prize first awarded in 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace, with an associated prize in Economics awarded since 1969. As of November 2022, Nobel Prizes had been awarded to 954 individuals, of whom 17 were black recipients (1.7% of the 954 individual recipients).
Black people have received awards in three of the six award categories: twelve in Peace (70.6% of the black recipients), four in Literature (23.5%), and one in Economics (5.9%). The first black recipient, Ralph Bunche, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. W. Arthur Lewis became the first black recipient of a Nobel Prize in one of the sciences when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1979. The most recent black laureate, Abdulrazak Gurnah, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021.
Among the black Nobel laureates, three served as heads of state or government of their respective countries upon receiving the Nobel Prize, while one was awarded the prize before taking office. Those include Barack Obama of the United States and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, who were presidents, along with Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, who was prime minister; all of them were awarded the Peace Prize. In addition, Nelson Mandela of South Africa became a Nobel Peace laureate before being elected president.
Literature
Four black people have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
| Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Wole Soyinka | Nigeria | First black man to win the Nobel Prize for Literature | |
| 1992 | Derek Walcott | Saint Lucia | ||
| 1993 | Toni Morrison | United States | First black woman to win a Nobel Prize | |
| 2021 | Abdulrazak Gurnah | United Kingdom | Gurnah moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s as a refugee following the Zanzibar Revolution |
Peace
12 black people have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
| Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Ralph Bunche | United States | First black person to win a Nobel Prize | |
| 1960 | Albert John Luthuli | South Africa | First black African to win a Nobel Prize | |
| 1964 | Martin Luther King Jr. | United States | Youngest African American to win a Nobel Prize, at age 35 | |
| 1984 | Desmond Tutu | South Africa | ||
| 1993 | Nelson Mandela | South Africa | ||
| 2001 | Kofi Annan | Ghana | ||
| 2004 | Wangari Maathai | Kenya | First environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize | |
| 2009 | Barack Obama | United States | ||
| 2011 | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | Liberia | ||
| 2011 | Leymah Gbowee | Liberia | ||
| 2018 | Denis Mukwege | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
| 2019 | Abiy Ahmed | Ethiopia |
Economics
One black person has been awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.
| Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | W. Arthur Lewis | Saint Lucia | 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 |
See also
- List of Nobel laureates
- List of African Nobel laureates
- List of Asian Nobel laureates
- List of Latino and Hispanic Nobel laureates
- List of Christian Nobel laureates
- List of Jewish Nobel laureates
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about List of black Nobel laureates, What is List of black Nobel laureates? What does List of black Nobel laureates mean?