The Nobel Prize is named after Alfred Nobel who was a Swedish businessman and philanthropist. This Prize is awarded every year in fields of application – Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Economics, Peace, Literature for distinguished service towards the society and mankind.
A Nobel Prize winner is recognized worldwide. Albert Einstein (from the USA), Richard Feynman (from the USA), Marie Curie (the only woman to win two Nobel Prize in 2 distinguished fields – Physics and Chemistry from Poland), Orhan Pamuk (Turkish author) and many others have won the Nobel Prize in different fields all over the world over a period of time.
The Nobel Prize was first given in the year 1901. They were to date given the capital of Sweden – Stockholm. In this article, we will learn about the Nobel Prize winners in India.
List of Nobel Prize Winners of India
Here is the list of Nobel Prize winners in India:
1. Rabindranath Tagore (1913)
Rabindranath Tagore was the first Asian to receive the Nobel Prize; in fact, he was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize. He received it when India was still a colony of Britain.
His field was Literature.“Gitanjali” or “Song Offerings”, a collection of poems, was the reason he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore was a poet, artist, author, and thinker. He was given the knighthood from Britain to honor his work.
However, he refused it owing to the Jallianwala Bagh incident which had occurred recently. Tagore was from Kolkata, West Bengal. He was known as a pioneer in the field of the freedom struggle because he believed “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
He composed the National Anthem of India – Jana Gana Mana. He also composed the National Anthem of Bangladesh “Amar Sonar Bangla.” He was a tycoon and his influence prevailed over people across the world through his work.
2. CV Raman (1930)
From the state of Tamil Nadu, CV Raman received his Nobel in the field of Physics. Sri Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman was the second Nobel Prize winner from India for his distinguished work in the scattering of light.
His research is known as the Raman Effect or Raman Scattering. He was the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel in the field of science. The day of his discovery – February 28th, is celebrated as National Science Day in India.
He was also the recipient of Bharat Ratna. He was the uncle of Subrahmanyan Chandrashekhar (also a Nobel Prize winner from India). CV Raman helped in the growth of science in the Indian subcontinent. His research and contribution towards society enabled young minds to think out of the box.
3. Har Gobind Khurana (1968)
He was born in Raipur, while India was still colonized by the British. Then he moved to the United States of America and became an American citizen. He won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his distinguished research on genetics. He shared the Prize with his fellow researcher Marshall W. Nirenberg.
4. Mother Teresa (1979)
Although she was born in Serbia, Mother Teresa moved to India at the age of 19 and dedicated her life to serve and uplift the needy and the poor. She trained and taught in Darjeeling. She followed a call that led her to Calcutta (now, Kolkata).
In 1948 she started working through the organization “Missionaries of Charity.” Her strife to end poverty won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
5. Subhramanyan Chandrashekhar (1983)
He was born in Lahore when India was colonized by Britain. He emigrated to the United States and became its citizen. His uncle was CV Raman (Nobel Prize winner). Chandrashekhar was an astrophysicist.
His work involved the structure and evolution of stars. He has a scientific construct named after him – Chandrashekhar Limit. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with a fellow researchers.
6. Amartya Sen (1998)
Amartya Sen was born and raised in Kolkata. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on welfare economics. He now spends his time between the USA, UK, and India. “The Argumentative Indian” was written by Sen.
7. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (2009)
Ramakrishnan was born in Tamil Nadu. He has won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. He is also a recipient of the Padma Vibhushana. His work includes distinguished contributions in RNA structural ribosome.
8. Kailash Satyarthi (2014)
Bachpan Bachao Andolan is an NGO founded by this iconic figure to strive against child labor and to secure the rights of children.
Satyarthi, a child rights activist, has to date liberated nearly 1 lakh children from child labor, trafficking, and slavery. He shared this Nobel Prize in Peace with Malala Yousafzai.
9. Abhijit Banerjee (2019)
Born and educated mostly in India, he is the recent addition in the Nobel Prize Winners’ List. He has won the Nobel Prize in Economics and shares it with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. Their work was based on alleviating global poverty. He presently lives and works in the United States.
Conclusion
So we have seen the list of Nobel Prize Winners of India. Apart from the above-stated personalities, there were 2 people who were born in India and have received the Nobel Prize. Rudyard Kipling, born in Mumbai in 1865, was the author of “The Jungle Book”.
He was the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Ronald Ross, born in Almora in British India, was the Nobel Prize winner in Medicine for his distinguished work in Malaria.