A daily planner from 2006 and a pen that once belonged Swedish Nobel Prize laureate Bengt Samuelsson have recently been added to the Nobel Prize Museum.
Ulf Larsson, a curator at the Nobel Prize Museum, received the gifts, which were handed over by Samuelsson’s widow, Karin Samuelsson.
“She told me that Bengt preferred having a very small planner so there wouldn’t be room for too many activities,” says Ulf Larsson, “because it was important for him to make time for his own research.”
Bengt Samuelsson was born in Halmstad in 1934. In 1982, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Sune Bergström and John Vane for their discoveries about prostaglandins – hormone-like substances that regulate several important processes in the body. He was involved in multiple research collaborations and boards of directors, including being head of the Karolinska Institute 1983–95 and chair of the board of directors for the Nobel Foundation 1993–2005. He continued working with the Karolinska Institute until his death in 2024.
These things changed the world
When Nobel Prize laureates visit the Nobel Prize Museum in the Old Town of Stockholm, they are asked to bring an object that has had special meaning to them. It could be something that tells us who they are or is connected to the achievements for which they were awarded. Other items have made their way to the museum through different paths. Right now, the exhibition These things changed the world is on display at the Nobel Prize Museum, featuring over 250 objects donated by laureates over the years.
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1 (of 2) New objects to the Nobel Prize Museum.
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi
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2 (of 2) This spread from May 2006 shows some of the causes and interests in which Samuelsson was engaged. He travelled to La Jolla, California for a meeting on lipidomics, an area of research in which Samuelsson’s work has played an important role. For Karin Samuelsson, the daily planner and pen are inextricably linked to the memory of her husband.
© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi