2004 Nobel Prizes

The 2004 Nobel Prizes were awarded by the Nobel Foundation, based in Sweden. Six categories were awarded: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. ^[1]

Nobel Week took place from December 6 to 12, including programming such as lectures, dialogues, and discussions. The award ceremony and banquet for the Peace Prize were scheduled in Oslo on December 10, while the award ceremony and banquet for all other categories were scheduled for the same day in Stockholm. ^{[2] [3]}

Prizes

Physics

Awardee(s)
	David Gross (b. 1941)	American	"for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction"	[4]
	Hugh David Politzer (b. 1949)
	Frank Wilczek (b. 1951)

Chemistry

Awardee(s)
	Aaron Ciechanover (b. 1947)	Israeli	"for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation"	[5]
	Avram Hershko (b. 1937)
	Irwin Rose (1926–2015)	American

Physiology or Medicine

Awardee(s)
	Richard Axel (b. 1946)	United States	"for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system"	[6]
	Linda B. Buck (b. 1947)

Literature

Main article: 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature

Awardee(s)
	Elfriede Jelinek (b. 1946)	Austria	"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"	[7]

Peace

Main article: 2004 Nobel Peace Prize

Awardee(s)
	Wangari Muta Maathai (1940–2011)	Kenya	"for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace."	[8]

Economic Sciences

Awardee(s)
	Finn E. Kydland (b. 1943)	Norway	"for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles"	[9]
	Edward C. Prescott (1940–2022)	United States

Controversies

Peace

Maathai was criticized for her past comments—reported by the Kenyan newspaper The Standard and Radio Free Europe—stating that HIV/AIDS was developed by western scientists and unleashed upon Africa. Maathai denied having stated them, though The Standard stood by its reporting, and Maathai later hinted in a Time interview that she believed HIV had a non-natural origin, saying that someone knows where it came from and that it "did not come from monkeys". ^{[10] [11]}

Literature

Shortly before the 2005 Nobel Prizes, Nobel Foundation member Knut Ahnlund resigned and stated publicly that Jelinek's awarding of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature "caused irreparable harm to the value for the foreseeable future" due to Jelinek's "whingeing, unenjoyable, and violent pornography" in her work. Academy head Horace Engdahl later stated that Ahnlund's activity in the academy during and prior to the decision of Jilenek's awarding was minimal and that he thus hadn't been a part of prize deliberations whatsoever. ^[12]

References

1. "All Nobel Prizes". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
2. Royen, Ulrika (2013-06-01). "The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony 2004". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
3. "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2004". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
4. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
5. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
6. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
7. "Nobel Prize in Literature 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
8. "The Nobel Peace Prize 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
9. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2004". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
10. Sindelar, Daisy (10 December 2004). "Africa's First Female Nobel Peace Laureate Accepts Award Amid Controversy Over AIDS Remarks". Rferl.org. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
11. "10 Questions: Wangari Maathai". Time (10 October 2004). Retrieved 20 March 2011.
12. "Nobel member quits over 2004 prize". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-12-10.