List of black Nobel laureates facts for kids

The Nobel Prize is an annual, international prize first awarded in 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace, with an associated prize in Economics awarded since 1969. As of November 2022, Nobel Prizes had been awarded to 954 individuals, of whom 17 were Black recipients (1.7% of the 954 individual recipients).

Black people have received awards in three of the six award categories: twelve in Peace (70.6% of the black recipients), four in Literature (23.5%), and one in Economics (5.9%). The first Black recipient, Ralph Bunche, was awarded the Peace Prize in 1950. W. Arthur Lewis became the first Black recipient of a Nobel Prize in one of the sciences when he was awarded the Economic Prize in 1979. The most recent laureate, Abdulrazak Gurnah, was awarded the Prize in Literature in 2021.

Among the Black laureates, three served as heads of state or government of their respective countries upon receiving the Nobel Prize, while one was awarded before taking office. Those include Barack Obama of the United States and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, who were presidents, along with Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, who was prime minister; all of them were awarded the Peace Prize. In addition, Nelson Mandela of South Africa became a Nobel Peace laureate before being elected president.

Literature

Four Black people have been given the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Year	Image	Laureate	Country	Comment
1986		Soyinka, WoleWole Soyinka	Nigeria	First Black man to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
1992		Walcott, DerekDerek Walcott	Saint Lucia
1993		Morrison, ToniToni Morrison	United States	First Black woman to win a Nobel Prize
2021		Gurnah, AbdulrazakAbdulrazak Gurnah	United Kingdom	Gurnah moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s as a refugee following the Zanzibar Revolution

Peace

12 Black people have been given the Nobel Peace Prize.

Year	Image	Laureate	Country	Comment
1950		Bunche, RalphRalph Bunche	United States	First Black person to win a Nobel Prize
1960		Luthuli, Albert JohnAlbert John Luthuli	South Africa	First Black African to win a Nobel Prize
1964		King Jr., Martin LutherMartin Luther King Jr.	United States	Youngest African American to win a Nobel Prize, at age 35
1984		Tutu, DesmondDesmond Tutu	South Africa
1993		Mandela, NelsonNelson Mandela	South Africa
2001		Annan, KofiKofi Annan	Ghana
2004		Maathai, WangariWangari Maathai	Kenya	First environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize
2009		Obama, BarackBarack Obama	United States
2011		Johnson Sirleaf, EllenEllen Johnson Sirleaf	Liberia
2011		Gbowee, LeymahLeymah Gbowee	Liberia
2018		Denis Mukwege	Democratic Republic of the Congo
2019		Abiy Ahmed	Ethiopia

Economics

One Black person has been awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

Year	Image	Laureate	Country	Comment
1979		Lewis, W. ArthurW. Arthur Lewis	Saint Lucia	First and (so far) only Black person to win a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; first West Indian to win a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

See also

• List of Nobel laureates
• List of African Nobel laureates
• List of Asian Nobel laureates
• List of Latino and Hispanic Nobel laureates
• List of Christian Nobel laureates
• List of Muslim Nobel laureates
• List of Jewish Nobel laureates