The Nobel Prize and the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel have so far been awarded to women 62 times between 1901 and 2023. Only one woman, Marie Curie, has been honoured twice, with the Nobel Prize in Physics 1903 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911. This means that 61 women in total have been awarded the Nobel Prize so far between 1901 and 2023.
The Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020
Andrea Ghez
“for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy”
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018
Donna Strickland
“for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics”
“for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.”
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1963
Maria Goeppert Mayer
“for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure”
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1903
Marie Curie, née Sklodowska
“in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022
Carolyn R. Bertozzi
“for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020
Emmanuelle Charpentier
“for the development of a method for genome editing”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020
Jennifer A. Doudna
“for the development of a method for genome editing”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018
Frances H. Arnold
“for the directed evolution of enzymes”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009
Ada E. Yonath
“for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin
“for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1935
Irène Joliot-Curie
“in recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911
Marie Curie, née Sklodowska
“in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023
Katalin Karikó
“for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015
Tu Youyou
“for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014
May-Britt Moser
“for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
Elizabeth H. Blackburn
“for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009
Carol W. Greider
“for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
“for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2004
Linda B. Buck
“for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1995
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
“for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1988
Gertrude B. Elion
“for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1986
Rita Levi-Montalcini
“for their discoveries of growth factors”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1983
Barbara McClintock
“for her discovery of mobile genetic elements”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1977
Rosalyn Yalow
“for the development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1947
Gerty Theresa Cori, née Radnitz
“for their discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen”
The Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2022
Annie Ernaux
“for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2020
Louise Glück
“for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2018
Olga Tokarczuk
“for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2015
Svetlana Alexievich
“for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2013
Alice Munro
“master of the contemporary short story”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2009
Herta Müller
“who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2007
Doris Lessing
“that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2004
Elfriede Jelinek
“for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society’s clichés and their subjugating power”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1996
Wislawa Szymborska
“for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1993
Toni Morrison
“who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1991
Nadine Gordimer
“who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966
Nelly Sachs
“for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing, which interprets Israel’s destiny with touching strength”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1945
Gabriela Mistral
“for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1938
Pearl Buck
“for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1928
Sigrid Undset
“principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1926
Grazia Deledda
“for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1909
Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf
“in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings”
The Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize 2021
Maria Ressa
“for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2018
Nadia Murad
“for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2014
Malala Yousafzai
“for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2011
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
“for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2011
Leymah Gbowee
“for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2011
Tawakkol Karman
“for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2004
Wangari Muta Maathai
“for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2003
Shirin Ebadi
“for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1997
Jody Williams
“for their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1992
Rigoberta Menchú Tum
“in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1991
Aung San Suu Kyi
“for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1982
Alva Myrdal
“for their work for disarmament and nuclear and weapon-free zones”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1979
Mother Teresa
“for her work for bringing help to suffering humanity”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1976
Betty Williams
“for the courageous efforts in founding a movement to put an end to the violent conflict in Northern Ireland”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1976
Mairead Corrigan
“for the courageous efforts in founding a movement to put an end to the violent conflict in Northern Ireland”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1946
Emily Greene Balch
“for her lifelong work for the cause of peace”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1931
Jane Addams
“for their assiduous effort to revive the ideal of peace and to rekindle the spirit of peace in their own nation and in the whole of mankind”
The Nobel Peace Prize 1905
Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner, née Countess Kinsky von Chinic und Tettau
“for her audacity to oppose the horrors of war”
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019
Esther Duflo
“for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009
Elinor Ostrom
“for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons”
Nobel Prize awarded women 1901-2022
Portrait of Annie Ernaux.
© Francesca Mantovani - Editions Gallimard
Carolyn Bertozzi at the press conference at Stanford following the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on 5 October 2022.
Photo: Stanford Office of University Communications
2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa adressing students at Princeton, April 2019.
Photo: Princeton University, Office of Communications, Denise Applewhite (2019)
2020 chemistry laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier in the laboratory.
Copyright © Hallbauer und Fioretti
Tu Youyou, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2015, on stage with her family after the Nobel Prize award ceremony on 10 December 2015.
© Nobel Media 2015 Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2015, presenting her gift to the Nobel Museum's collection: one of her five tape recorders, on 6 December 2015.
© Nobel Media 2015 Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
Elizabeth Blackburn, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2009, in her lab at the University of California, San Francisco.
© University of California, San Francisco 2009 Photo: Elisabeth Fall/fallfoto.com
Alice Munro, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2013.
Photo: Jenny Munro © The Nobel Foundation
Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2011, is embraced by guests at a party at her family home in Monrovia, Liberia, to celebrate her Nobel Peace Prize.
© Nobel Media AB 2011 Photo: Glenna Gordon
Jane Addams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1931, at her desk, 30 October 1912.
Source: Library of Congress, USA Photographer unknown. No known copyright restrictions.
Donna Strickland in the laboratory.
Courtesy of University of Waterloo
Emily Greene Balch, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1946.
Source: Library of Congress, USA Photographer unknown. No known copyright restrictions.
Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2008.
Copyright © Institut Pasteur 2008
Linda Buck, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2004.
© Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 2011Photo: Roland Morgan
Pearl Buck, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1938. Photo taken ca 1932.
Source: Library of Congress, USA Photographer unknown. No known copyright restrictions.
Chemistry laureate Frances Arnold in the laboratory
Photo kindly provided by Caltech
Selfie by Physics Laureate Andrea Ghez, after being woken up at 2 a.m. on 5 October 2020 with some exciting news.
Photo: Andrea Ghez
Gerty Cori, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1947, and her husband Carl in their laboratory at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, 1947.
Source: U.S National Library of Medicine, Images from the History of Medicine Collection. Photographer unknown.
Esther Duflo, Laureate in Economic Sciences, handed over schoolbooks to the Nobel Prize Museum.
© Nobel Media. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
Mairead Corrigan, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1976.
© The Nobel Foundation
Tawakkol Karman, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
© Nobel Media AB 2011 Photo: Donnelly Marks
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1964.
© The Nobel Foundation
Gertrude B. Elion, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1988, in the laboratory.
Source: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images. Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons by-nc 2.0 UK
Marie Curie, Nobel Laureate in Physics 1903 and in Chemistry 1911, in her laboratory at the Radium Institute in Paris, France, 1921.
© Association Curie Joliot-Curie Photographer unknown
Nadia Murad signing the guestbook before the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, 10 December 2018.
© Nobel Media. Photo: Ken Opprann
Grazia Deledda, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1926.
Source: Institute of Czech Literature Photographer unknown.
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2003, waves to some 4,000 flag-waving children greeting her outside Oslo City Hall, Norway, before the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony on 10 December 2003.
© Pressens Bild AB 2003, S-112 88 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone: +46(0)87383800. Photo: Odd Andersen
Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1991, at the Göteborg Book Fair in Gothenberg, Sweden, 2010.
Photo: Lärarnas Nyheter, Flickr
Carol W. Greider, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2009, in her laboratory.
© JHU Gazette 2009 Photo: Will Kirk
Elfriede Jelinek, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2004. Photographed in Munich, September 2001.
Photo: G. Huengsberg Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
Irène Joliot-Curie, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1935, and her husband Frédéric Joliot at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in the Golden Hall of Stockholm City Hall, 10 December 1935.
Copyright © Association Curie Joliot-Curie Photographer unknown
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, in front of her old high school in Monrovia, Liberia.
© Nobel Media AB 2011 Photo: Glenna Gordon
Selma Lagerlöf, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1909, in her garden.
Photo: Courtesy of Mårbackastiftelsen Photographer unknown
Rita Levi-Montalcini, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1986, in her laboratory in the early 1960s.
© Becker Medical Library, Washington University School of Medicine. Photographer unknown
Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2004.
Copyright © Scanpix Photo: Simon Maina
Maria Goeppert-Mayer, Nobel Laureate in Physics 1963, being escorted to the Nobel Banquet by King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden, 10 December 1963.
Source: Smithsonian Institution Archives Photographer unknown
Doris Lessing, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2007, being interviewed at her home in London, 14 April 2008.
© Nobel Media AB 2008
Barbara McClintock, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1983, in her lab at Cold Spring Harbor, April 1963.
Source: National Institutes of Health. Courtesy: The Barbara McClintock Papers, American Philosophical Society
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi at the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony at the Oslo City Hall in Norway, 10 December 2014. To the far left: Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2014, Photo: Ken Opprann
Gabriela Mistral, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1945.
Source: National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress, USA. Photographer unknown. No known copyright restrictions.
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1993, speaking at "A Tribute to Chinua Achebe - 50 Years Anniversary of 'Things Fall Apart'", New York City, 26 February 2008.
Photo: Angela Radulescu,Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike
Herta Müller, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2009, after delivering her Nobel Lecture at the Swedish Academy, 7 December 2009. On her right is Professor Peter Englund, the Swedish Academy.
© The Swedish Academy 2009 Photo: Helena Paulin-Strömberg
Alva Myrdal, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1982, with German President Gustav Heinemann in Frankfurt, 27 September 1970.
Source: German Federal Archive Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1995. Photo taken 20 June 2007.
Photo: Rama. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
Elinor Ostrom (middle), Laureate in Economic Sciences 2009, analyses data at a workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, November 1977.
Photo: Courtesy of Indiana University
Nelly Sachs, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1966.
© The Nobel Foundation
Jennifer Doudna receiving the Nobel Prize call on 7 October 2020.
Photo credit: Brittany Hosea-Small
Bertha von Suttner, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1905.
Source: Library of Congress, USA. Photographer unknown.No known copyright restrictions.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1991.
Photo: Htoo Tay Zar, OpenMyanmar project Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
Wislawa Szymborska, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1996.
© The Nobel Foundation
Mother Teresa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1979, during a visit to Bonn, Germany, in 1986.
Photo: Wikimedia-Commons User Túrelio, Creative Commons
Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1992, visiting the Nobel Peace Center, September 2006.
Copyright © Nobel Peace Center 2006 Photo: Kirsti Svenning
At the Nobel Prize Museum, Literature Laureate Olga Tokarczuk donated her personal diary from 2018.
© Nobel Media. Photo: Clément Morin
Sigrid Undset, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1928. Photo taken 27 March 1927.
Source: Carl Van Vechten photograph collection, Library of Congress, USA. Photographer unknown.
May-Britt Moser, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, after receiving the news about the Nobel Prize.
Photo: Nancy Bazilchuk, NTNU Communication Div. Courtesy; NTNU Trondheim
Betty Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1976.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1997, on a tour around the Nobel Peace Center, June 2005.
Copyright © Nobel Peace Center 2005 Photo: Erlend Aas
Rosalyn Yalow, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1977.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation
Ada Yonath, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2009, in conversation with His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Nobel Banquet, 10 December 2009.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2009 Photo: Orasisfoto