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Hungarian Nobel Prize winners
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The Nobel Prize is considered the most prestigious scientific award. In his will, Alfred Nobel left his fortune to a foundation. Its interest would be distributed in five equal parts as prizes to those who had done the most for humanity in the previous years. The winners would be announced in the categories of physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine, literature and efforts for peace. Since 1969, the Nobel Prize in Economics has joined the former.
Hungary boasts many Nobel Prize winners. Most sites and sources list 16 Hungarian Nobel laureates. However, they can be divided into 3 groups:
- Hungarian Nobel laureates who lived in Hungary, as Hungarian citizens, and received the prize on the basis of Hungarian activities — 2 persons
- Not born in Hungary, but at least one of the parents is of Hungarian origin — 6 persons
- Born in Hungary, but emigrated and received the Nobel Prize on the basis of their work abroad — 8 persons
Albert Szent-Györgyi
He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1937. He got the prize for his discoveries in connection with the biological combustion processes, with special reference to vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid. Szent-Györgyi left Hungary at the end of 1947. He died in 1986 in the USA.
Imre Kertész
Imre Kertész was the winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature. He won for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history. His book Sorstalanság (Fateless), about the Holocaust and tyranny, was 13 years in the making. He is the only Hungarian Nobel laureate who has died in Hungary.
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Richard Adolf Zsigmondy
His parents were Hungarian, but Zsigmondy was an Austrian citizen. In 1925, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his demonstration of the heterogeneous nature of colloid solutions and for the methods he used, which have since become fundamental in modern colloid chemistry.
Róbert Bárány
Róbert Bárány was also the son of Hungarian parents and an Austrian citizen. In 1915, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus.
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American citizen. His Hungarian parents immigrated to New York before he was born. In 1976, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his achievements in the fields of consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and for his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy.
Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
Like Friedman, Daniel Gajdekus was a US citizen born in New York. Born to a Hungarian mother, Gajdusek was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1976. He was awarded the prize for his discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases.
Elie Wiesel
He was born in Hungary to Hungarian parents. After World War II, he emigrated to France and then to the United States. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle to come to terms with the utter humiliation and contempt for humanity in Hitler’s death camps and for his practical work for peace.
