Recently when we published the list of youngest Nobel Prize winners, it became pertinent to compile a list of oldest winners as well! Again the Dashamlav Knowledge Base came handy and we quickly found the data. Nobel Prize, as you know, is arguably the world’s most prestigious and biggest prize. It is awarded to the most exceptional work done in the fields of sciences, economics, peace and literature. In the history of more than hundred years this prize has been awarded only to less than 1000 laureates. The oldest Nobel laureate is John B. Goodenough, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 at the age of 97 years!
Oldest Nobel Prize Winners
As Nobel Prize is given only after the work of a lifetime, it is not surprising that as many as 48 laureates received it after the age of 80 years. Here’s the full list of Nobel Prize winners who won the prize after the age of 80 years.
| Age at the time of win | Winner | Year | Prize Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97 years | John B. Goodenough | 2019 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 90 years | Leonid Hurwicz | 2007 | The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences |
| 89 years | Lloyd S. Shapley | 2012 | The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences |
| 88 years | Roger Penrose | 2020 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 88 years | Raymond Davis Jr. | 2002 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 88 years | Doris Lessing | 2007 | The Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 87 years | Vitaly L. Ginzburg | 2003 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 87 years | Yoichiro Nambu | 2008 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 87 years | Peyton Rous | 1966 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 87 years | Karl von Frisch | 1973 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 87 years | Joseph Rotblat | 1995 | The Nobel Peace Prize |
| 86 years | Ferdinand Buisson | 1927 | The Nobel Peace Prize |
| 85 years | Willard S. Boyle | 2009 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 85 years | Isamu Akasaki | 2014 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 85 years | Rainer Weiss | 2017 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 85 years | John B. Fenn | 2002 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 85 years | Robert G. Edwards | 2010 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 85 years | William C. Campbell | 2015 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 85 years | Youyou Tu | 2015 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 85 years | Theodor Mommsen | 1902 | The Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 84 years | Harvey J. Alter | 2020 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 84 years | Pyotr Kapitsa | 1978 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 84 years | Peter Higgs | 2013 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 84 years | William Knowles | 2001 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 84 years | Thomas C. Schelling | 2005 | The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences |
| 83 years | Charles J. Pedersen | 1987 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 83 years | Martin Karplus | 2013 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 83 years | George H. Hitchings | 1988 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 83 years | Jaroslav Seifert | 1984 | The Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 82 years | Robert B. Wilson | 2020 | The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences |
| 82 years | David J. Thouless | 2016 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 82 years | Georg Wittig | 1979 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 82 years | Robert F. Furchgott | 1998 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 82 years | Oliver Smithies | 2007 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 82 years | Alice Munro | 2013 | The Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 82 years | William Vickrey | 1996 | The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences |
| 81 years | François Englert | 2013 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 81 years | Barry C. Barish | 2017 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 81 years | Barbara McClintock | 1983 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 81 years | John R. Mott | 1946 | The Nobel Peace Prize |
| 81 years | René Cassin | 1968 | The Nobel Peace Prize |
| 81 years | Ronald H. Coase | 1991 | The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences |
| 80 years | Roy J. Glauber | 2005 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 80 years | Osamu Shimomura | 2008 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 80 years | Akira Suzuki | 2010 | The Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| 80 years | Satoshi Ōmura | 2015 | The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 80 years | Paul Heyse | 1910 | The Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 80 years | Tomas Tranströmer | 2011 | The Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 80 years | Auguste Beernaert | 1909 | The Nobel Peace Prize |
| 80 years | Alva Myrdal | 1982 | The Nobel Peace Prize |
| 80 years | Ernst Ruska | 1986 | The Nobel Prize in Physics |
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"Oldest Nobel Prize Winners." Dashamlav.com. Web. 3 December 2024. <https://dashamlav.com/oldest-nobel-prize-winners/>
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