Nobel Prize Winners

  • Philipp E. A. von Lenard (1862-1947) 1905 Physics
  • Robert Bárány (1876-1936) 1914 Medicine
  • Richard A. Zsigmondy (1865-1929) 1925 Chemistry
  • Albert von Szent-Györgyi (1893-1986) 1937 Medicine
  • George de Hevesy (1885-1966) 1943 Chemistry
  • Georg von Békésy (1899-1972) 1961 Medicine
  • Eugene P. Wigner (1902-1995) 1963 Physics
  • Dennis Gabor (1900-1979) 1971 Physics
  • John C. Polanyi (1930-) 1986 Chemistry
  • George A. Olah (1927-) 1994 Chemistry
  • John C. Harsanyi (1920-2000) 1994 Economics
  • Imre Kertész (1929-) 2002 Literature
  • Avram Hershko (1937-) 2004 Chemistry
  • Ferenc Krausz (1962-) 2023 Physics
  • Katalin Karikó (1955 -) 2023 Medicine

More information

Philipp E. A. von Lenard (June 7, 1862, Pozsony – May 20, 1947, Messelhausen)

Philippe Lenard (Fülöp Lénárd) was awarded the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work on cathode rays. Despite living in Germany, he did not identify himself as Hungarian.

Robert Bárány (April 22, 1876, Vienna – April 8, 1936, Uppsala)

Robert (Róbert) Bárány, who received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his contributions to the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus, resided in Sweden.

Richard A. Zsigmondy (April 1, 1865, Vienna – September 23, 1929, Göttingen)

Richard (Richárd) Zsigmondy was honored with the 1925 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on demonstrating the heterogeneous nature of colloid solutions and his pioneering methods in modern colloid chemistry. He lived in Germany.

Albert von Szent-Györgyi (September 16, 1893, Budapest – October 22, 1986, Woods Hole, MA)

Albert Szent-Györgyi, awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize for Medicine, made significant discoveries related to biological combustion processes, specifically focusing on vitamin C and the catalysis of fumaric acid. While he was a professor at Szeged University in Hungary from 1928 to 1945, he later moved to the United States in 1947.

George de Hevesy (August 1, 1885, Budapest – July 5, 1966, Freiburg im Breisgau)

George de Hevesy (György Hevesy) received the 1943 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his pioneering work on using isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes. He resided in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden.

Georg von Békésy (June 3, 1899, Budapest – June 12, 1972, Honolulu, HI)

Georg von Békésy (György Békésy) earned the 1961 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his groundbreaking discoveries regarding the physical mechanism of stimulation within the cochlea. He lived in the United States.

Eugene P. Wigner (November 17, 1902, Budapest – January 1, 1995, Princeton, NJ)

Eugene Wigner (Jeno Wigner) was awarded the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles. He resided in the United States.

Dennis Gabor (June 5, 1900, Budapest – February 9, 1979, London)

Dennis Gabor (Dénes Gábor) received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing and developing the holographic method. He lived in Great Britain.

John C. Polanyi (January 23, 1929, Berlin -)

John Polanyi (János Polányi), the son of natural scientist Mihály Polányi, shared the 1986 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes. He resides in Canada.

George A. Olah (May 22, 1927, Budapest -)

George Olah (György Oláh) received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his significant contributions to carbocation chemistry. He lives in the United States.

John C. Harsanyi (May 29, 1920, Budapest – August 9, 2000, Berkeley, CA)

John Harsanyi (János Harsányi) shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics for pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games. He lived in the United States.

Imre Kertész (November 9, 1929, Budapest -)

Imre Kertész was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize for Literature for his writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history, focusing on the horrors of the 20th century.

Avram Hershko (December 31, 1937, Karcag -)

Avram (Ferenc Ábrahám) Hershko, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2004 jointly with Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, resides in Israel.

Ferenc Krausz (May 17, 1962, Mór -)

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier for experimental methods generating attosecond pulses of light for studying electron dynamics in matter.

Katalin Karikó (January 17, 1955, Szolnok)

The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet has jointly awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications enabling the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.