The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1944

Otto Hahn

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Prize share: 1/1

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1944 was awarded to Otto Hahn "for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei"
Otto Hahn received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1945. During the selection process in 1944, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Otto Hahn therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1944 one year later, in 1945.

To cite this section
MLA style: The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1944. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Mon. 2 Oct 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1944/summary/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Watch the 2023 Nobel Prize announcements

Coming up

Don't miss the Nobel Prize announcements 2-9 October!

Watch the live stream of the announcements.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.