HISTORY OF THE NOBEL PRIZE

The Nobel Prize (Swedish: Nobelpriset) is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901. An associated prize, The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was instituted by Sweden's central bank in 1968 and first awarded in 1969.The Nobel Prizes in the specific disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature) and the Prize in Economics, which is commonly identified with them, are widely regarded as the most prestigious award one can receive in those fields.

With the exception of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economics are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, at the annual Prize Award Ceremony on the 10th of December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The recipients' lectures are presented in the days prior to the award ceremony. The Nobel Peace Prize and its recipients' lectures are presented at the annual Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo, Norway, also on the 10th of December. The award ceremonies and the associated banquets are typically major international events.
It is unclear why Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Norway may have been better suited to awarding the prize as it did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden and that at the end of the nineteenth century the Norwegian parliament had become closely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration.

Further, at the time the Nobel prizes were instituted, Norway and Sweden were joined together in a union known as the Swedish-Norwegian Union. It is possible Nobel felt that Norway deserved a share of awarding the prize honors.

Nobel Laureates 2009

Physics:
Charles K. Kao "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication"

Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor"
Chemistry:
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome"
Physiology or Medicine:
Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase"
Literature:
Herta Müller "who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed"
Peace:
Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"
Prize in Economics:
Elinor Ostrom "for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons"