News from Nobelprize.org

March 23, 2007

To date, only 4% of Nobel Laureates have been women (just 33 out of a total of 768). Earlier this month, International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on 8 March, offered an opportunity to reflect on the works of those few who have been awarded the Nobel Prize.

Perhaps surprisingly, female Laureates were slightly better represented in the early days, with women recipients in 4 out of the 5 existing categories within the first 10 years of the Prizes’ existence. Admittedly, the phenomenal Marie Curie was responsible for two of those categories on her own, being both the first female Laureate (in Physics in 1903) and then the first female Chemistry Laureate in 1911.

In terms of subjects, women have fared best in Peace, with 12 prizes, and Literature, with 10. In the sciences, having got off to a slow start in the category of Physiology or Medicine (with the first award going to Gerty Cori in 1947), this area now leads the pack with 7 Laureates, with Chemistry and Physics trailing with just 3 and 2 respectively. There have so far been no women recipients on the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, first awarded in 1969.

Why female representation is so low is a topic of continual discussion. Below we highlight writings and interviews describing individual paths women have taken to the Nobel Prize, content that might help to illuminate the debate.

As ever, we welcome comments on the materials you find on Nobelprize.org, so please e-mail us at editor@nobelprize.org.

Adam Smith
Editor-in-Chief

33 out of 768!
For starters, discover which women have been awarded a Nobel Prize, and for what, with our list of all female Laureates.
Have a look »

WOMEN IN SCIENCE
"It's not considered attractive to be a female scientist" said Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard during an interview recorded 8 years after she was awarded her Nobel Prize, in which she reflects on her work and career.
Watch the interview »

"THOU SHALT NOT KILL"
Bertha von Suttner, friend and correspondent of Alfred Nobel, was the first female Peace Laureate when she was awarded the Prize in 1905. Her Nobel Lecture describes the early beginnings of the peace movement.
Read the Nobel Lecture »

FIELD WORK
Barbara McClintock was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work revealing the presence of 'jumping genes' in maize. As she recounts in her Nobel Lecture, she was ignored for years before her fellow researchers finally caught-up and came to recognize the importance of her discoveries.
Read the Nobel Lecture »

"THE ONLY TRAINING IS TO READ"
In a 2005 interview, Nadine Gordimer, recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, spoke about her development as a writer, as well as the development of South African Society.
Watch the interview »

GENIUS MULTIPLIED
Not only was Marie Curie the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes, but her daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, then was awarded a third, for Chemistry in 1935. The story of this amazing family is told in the single most downloaded article on Nobelprize.org, written by Nanny Fröman.
Read the article »

THE OLDEST LIVING LAUREATE
Rita Levi-Montalcini, born in 1909, was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on growth factors. As described in her official autobiography, the road to Stockholm included having to build a laboratory in her bedroom during World War II.
Read the autobiography »

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