Nobel laureates

Census of people awarded from 1901 through 2025. This page gathers one record per person; the atlas can place them by their award years. Organizations are not counted as people.

Canonical records: 990
Events: 0
People: 990
Processes and periods: 0

Compare in the atlas Selection criteria and limits

Topics represented

Nobel laureates (990) · People (990) · Medicine (232) · Physics (229) · Chemistry (198) · Literature (122) · Peace (112) · Economic Sciences (99) · Science (5) · Artificial intelligence (5) · Personas científicas (5) · Biología (1)

View distribution by region and period

Canonical records by regional label and start date. These are numerical analysis bins, not universal historical periods. A multi-region record appears in multiple rows; do not add rows as a unique-record total.
Region	1800–1899	1900–1999
Africa	3	27
Americas	62	412
Asia	6	79
Europe	230	316
Oceania	4	13
Global / no specific region	0	0

Records and sources

Ordered by start date. Long lives and processes may begin before the period you want to study.

1939–2016
Sir Harold Kroto
Sir Harold Kroto (1939–2016) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Chemistry (1996). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–2026
Susumu Tonegawa
Susumu Tonegawa (1939–2026) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1987). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Harold E. Varmus
Harold E. Varmus (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1989). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–2013
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Literature (1995). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Leland Hartwell
Leland Hartwell (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2001). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–2018
Peter Grünberg
Peter Grünberg (1939–2018) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physics (2007). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–2026
Ada E. Yonath
Ada E. Yonath (1939–2026) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Chemistry (2009). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–2014
Dale T. Mortensen
Dale T. Mortensen (1939–2014) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Economic Sciences (2010). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Eugene F. Fama
Eugene F. Fama (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Economic Sciences (2013). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1939–… (as of 2026-09-01)
John O'Keefe
John O'Keefe (1939–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (2014). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Annie Ernaux
Annie Ernaux (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Literature (2022). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Joseph L. Goldstein
Joseph L. Goldstein (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1985). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Peter C. Doherty
Peter C. Doherty (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physiology or Medicine (1996). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Oscar Arias Sánchez
Oscar Arias Sánchez (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Peace (1987). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–1996
Joseph Brodsky
Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Literature (1987). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Gao Xingjian
Gao Xingjian (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Literature (2000). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
George A. Akerlof
George A. Akerlof (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Economic Sciences (2001). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
J. M. Coetzee
J. M. Coetzee (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Literature (2003). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–2011
Wangari Maathai
Wangari Maathai (1940–2011) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Peace (2004). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–2022
Edward C. Prescott
Edward C. Prescott (1940–2022) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Economic Sciences (2004). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Peace (2006). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–2021
Toshihide Maskawa
Toshihide Maskawa (1940–2021) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physics (2008). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Literature (2008). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–2018
Thomas A. Steitz
Thomas A. Steitz (1940–2018) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Chemistry (2009). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Peter A. Diamond
Peter A. Diamond (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Economic Sciences (2010). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Arieh Warshel
Arieh Warshel (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Chemistry (2013). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Kip S. Thorne
Kip S. Thorne (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physics (2017). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Joachim Frank
Joachim Frank (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Chemistry (2017). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1940–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Brian D. Josephson
Brian D. Josephson (1940–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physics (1973). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.
1941–… (as of 2026-09-01)
Pierre Agostini
Pierre Agostini (1941–present) appears in the official census of individual laureates for Physics (2023). This record represents the person’s life; each award is dated separately, and the prize year does not stand for the date of their whole body of work.