News from Nobelprize.org
May 29 , 2007
One unexpected duty that new Nobel Laureates may find awaiting them is the requirement to give an after-dinner speech at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm on December 10th. These 'banquet speeches' are generally pretty short, taking no more than two to three minutes, and are traditionally delivered by just one of the Laureates from each category. Where there are multiple Laureates in a subject, it most often falls to the oldest among them to present the speech and give thanks on behalf of them all.
The order of the speeches never varies, being literature, medicine, chemistry, physics and economics (the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded separately in Oslo, Norway, the celebrations there taking place without banquet speeches). The reasons for this order appear to be shrouded in the mists of time, differing from the 'traditional' arrangement at other ceremonies of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economics.
The archive of these banquet speeches is a treasure-trove, offering insights into the personality of the Laureates and wide-ranging reflections on their works, the Nobel Prize and its meaning. Below we list just a few examples (in banquet order) to whet your appetite, but there are literally hundreds more of these short delights to be found on the site. So why not try browsing them, and then do let us know your favourites by writing to us at editor@nobelprize.org.
Adam Smith
Editor-in-Chief |
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"MY TWO MINUTES ARE UP!"
In a rare departure from protocol, V.S. Naipaul, Literature Laureate for 2001, was captured on film delivering his banquet speech. Experience the moment!
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"CHILDREN READ BOOKS, NOT REVIEWS"
Delivering his banquet speech in 1978, Isaac Bashevis Singer described why he chose to write in Yiddish, "a dying language", and why, particularly, he liked to write for an audience of children.
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A LESSON IN HOW TO DO IT?
Alan Hodgkin's banquet speech serves as a model of politeness and humility, and manages to throw in a funny story about the slightly less humble Ernest Rutherford along the way.
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ALONE IN HER MAIZE FIELDS
Barbara McClintock reflected on how her initially distressing isolation, resulting from the widespread dismissal of her research, turned out in fact to be a golden opportunity to advance her investigations without interruption, leading her eventually to Stockholm.
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PRIZES FOR PEACE, EVERY ONE
In 1932, Chemistry Laureate Irving Langmuir argued for science as an endeavour free from national prejudices, and for the Nobel Prizes' chief attribute as being their promotion of common understanding between nations.
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PIERRE-GILLES DE GENNES, 1932-2007
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Physics Laureate in 1991, who died earlier this month, presumably spoke for many when he described the trepidation he felt when preparing to give his after-dinner address at the Nobel Banquet.
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A TIME FOR JOY
Richard Feynman, who never said much in favour of honours in general, used his banquet speech to describe the way his Nobel Prize presented happy opportunities for an outpouring of joy and affection from his friends.
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ON THE DANGERS OF POPULAR APPROVAL
Economics Laureate Friedrich August von Hayek also worried somewhat about prizes, warning that the award which he had just received "confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess".
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THE FIVE HABITS OF LAUREATES
Speaking in the second year of the existence of the Prize in Economics, Paul A. Samuelson offered his views on the five necessary conditions for scholarly success.
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