List of black Nobel laureates facts for kids

The Nobel Prize is a super important award given out every year since 1901. It celebrates amazing achievements in different areas like Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine (which is about health and medicine), Literature, and Peace. There's also a prize for Economics that started in 1969.

As of November 2022, over 950 people have won a Nobel Prize. Out of these, 17 were Black individuals. They have won awards in three main categories: Peace, Literature, and Economics. The very first Black person to win a Nobel Prize was Ralph Bunche in 1950, for Peace. Later, W. Arthur Lewis became the first Black person to win a Nobel Prize in a science field (Economics) in 1979. The most recent Black winner was Abdulrazak Gurnah for Literature in 2021.

Some Black Nobel laureates were leaders of their countries when they received the prize. This includes Barack Obama and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who were presidents, and Abiy Ahmed, who was a prime minister. All of them won the Peace Prize. Also, Nelson Mandela won the Peace Prize before he became president of South Africa.

Black Nobel Prize Winners

This section highlights the incredible Black individuals who have been honored with a Nobel Prize for their contributions to the world.

Literature Laureates

Four Black individuals have received the Nobel Prize in Literature for their outstanding writing.

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

Peace Prize Winners

Twelve Black individuals have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in promoting peace and solving conflicts.

Year	Image	Laureate	Country	Comment
1950		Bunche, RalphRalph Bunche	United States	The first Black person to win any Nobel Prize.
1960		Luthuli, Albert JohnAlbert John Luthuli	South Africa	The first Black African to win a Nobel Prize.
1964		King Jr., Martin LutherMartin Luther King Jr.	United States	The 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	The 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 Laureates

So far, one Black person has been awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. This prize recognizes important work in understanding how economies work.

Year	Image	Laureate	Country	Comment
1979		Lewis, W. ArthurW. Arthur Lewis	Saint Lucia	The first and only Black person (so far) to win a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was also the first West Indian to win this prize.

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