It is the time of year when Nobel Prizes are announced and soon awarded to a few amazing people around the world for their influential contributions in the areas of: Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Economy, Physiology/Medicine.  A number of Nobel Prizes have already been announced for 2012, but today they will be announcing the winner (or winners) in the area of Economics.  So, this is a great time to talk about what this most prestigious* prize is all about.

This award is named for the Swedish invent Alfred Nobel.  Nobel was a chemist, engineer, and inventor extraordinaire**, whose most famous invention may be dynamite.  Nobel accumulated a great deal of wealth in his lifetime because of all of his inventions.  Late in life though he was saddened and surprised to read an obituary*** that was written for him prematurely**** in which he was referred to as “the merchant of death” because so many of his inventions were related to death and distraction.  After reading about how the world might remember him in a negative light, he sat out to change his reputation.  He decided on his death he would give most of his fortune to a foundation that would seek out and award prizes to people who created good or discovered ideas/theories that made the world a better place.  It is fair to say that Nobel did a good job of changing his reputation as he is now remembered for this amazing prize and creating good in the world.

The Nobel Foundation, which has awarded prizes each year since 1901, consists of a committee of five Swedish or Norwegian citizens.  The committee announces prize recipients every year around this time, but the Nobel Prizes are not handed out to the recipients until December 10th each year, on the anniversary of Nobel’s death.  Nobel Prize winners are called ‘Nobel Laureates’ in English and they are among a very prestigious group of people in the world.  It is a very small club with exclusive membership!  Some of the most famous Nobel Laureates are recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (for example: Mother Teresa, Muhammad Yunus, Barack Obama), but the award winners in all categories are amazing individuals.

Here are some interesting facts about this prize:
830 Laureates and 23 organizations have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
There are some years when the Nobel Prize is not awarded in a certain category if the committee does not belief there is a worth recipient they just do not award a prize that year.
Only 44 Nobel Prizes have gone to women.
The youngest award winner was 25 years old when he won his Prize in 1915.
Award winners this year will receive US$1.2 million (if there are multiple winners they split the money)
Two Nobel Laureates have declined (not taken) the prize

*prestigious = inspiring respect, having high status
**extraordinaire = outstanding or remarkable
***obituary = a notice of a death often in a newspaper that includes a biography
**** prematurely = happening before something is expected to happen