The League of Red Cross Societies also received half of the 1963 prize.
Max Planck (1858–1947)
1918 Physics
In recognition of the services he rendered to the advancement of physics by his discovery of energy quanta.
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was one of the most important physicists of the 20th century, and his work in quantum and atomic physics made him one of the founding fathers of these fields. Born in Kiel, Germany, the son of Julius Wilhelm, a professor of constitutional law, Planck studied at the University of Munich and completed his doctorate there in 1879. In 1880 he began the first of five years of teaching at the University of Munich, after which he returned to the University of Kiel and taught theoretical physics until 1889. In that same year he was made associate professor at the University of Berlin, where he remained until his retirement in 1926.
Planck’s first investigative work focused on questions of thermodynamics. But, on arriving in Berlin, he decided to study the distribution of energy in the spectrum of radiation of a black body, a phenomenon not explained by classical statistical mechanics. In 1900 Planck revealed that radiated energy was emitted or absorbed in a discontinuous manner and only in certain well-defined quantities, equal to a minimum value or a multiple of that value. Planck called this minimum quantity of energy, proportional to the frequency of the radiation emitted or absorbed, a “quantum” of energy or photon.
Although revolutionary, other physicists initially received these discoveries poorly. Nevertheless, soon the scientific community came to appreciate Planck’s achievements, and he was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1926 he was elected as a foreign member to the Royal Society, he received the Copley Society medal in 1928 and was president of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (later renamed the Max Planck Institute) between 1930 and 1937.
Planck, unfortunately, had a private life marked by numerous tragedies. In 1909 his first wife Marie Merck, whom he had married in 1885, died, and he later lost two daughters. He remarried in 1911, to Marga von Hosslin. During World War II his eldest son was sent to the frontline, while the other was shot by the Gestapo for being involved in the attempt on Adolf Hitler’s life on July 20, 1944. Vehemently opposed to the Nazi party, Planck was forced to leave Berlin in 1944, when the house he lived in was ruined. He escaped to Göttingen but never fully recovered from the accumulated sufferings he experienced during the war. He died in 1947.
Fritz Haber (1868–1934)
1918 Chemistry
For the synthesis of ammonia from its elements.
The German chemist Fritz Haber had broad interests in politics, history, economics and industry, but he is best remembered for his scientific work. Born in Breslau, Germany, now Wroclaw, Poland, Haber’s family was one of the oldest and most respected in the community. He obtained a classical education in his hometown then went on to study chemistry at universities in Berlin, Heidelberg and Zurich before volunteering to return to Breslau and help in his father’s business.
Haber’s enterprising spirit led him to change his plans again, however, and he determined to follow an academic career. He first worked at the University of Jena with Ludwig Knorr but was, even at this time, uncertain whether to pursue his studies in physics or chemistry. In 1894 he finally accepted an invitation to be an assistant to Hans Bunte, professor of chemical technology at Technische Hochschule, in Karlsruhe. It was also in Karlsruhe that he met Carl Engler. These two men would have an enormous influence on Haber’s professional life.
In 1911 he was appointed director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, where he stayed for more than 20 years. He became a model leader of this vast institution, giving freedom to his colleagues while at the same time maintaining control over the school’s diverse activities. Those who came into contact with him recognized his strong personality, management skills and work ethic.
When World War I broke out, Haber was appointed a consultant to the German War Office and had a decisive role in developing poison gas as a weapon of war. After the end of the conflict, the chemist once again showed his patriotism by trying to help Germany overcome its enormous war debt. To do so he began an unsuccessful attempt to extract gold from seawater.
At the height of his career, Haber was awarded the 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements.” He left an important legacy of perfecting the Haber process, which combines nitrogen and hydrogen under pressure using iron as a catalyst to produce ammonia. This process can be used to produce fertilizers or explosives. Haber’s most productive period coincided with the peak of the Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry after World War I. Unfortunately Hitler’s rise to power put an end to this growth, since Haber, as well as some of his colleagues, was Jewish. For the German authorities, the devotion that he had given to his country now meant little.
After leaving the Institute in 1933, he went to Cambridge in England but did not stay long, fearing the wet weather’s effect on his heart condition. Haber died on January 29, 1934, in Basel, Switzerland.
Erik Axel Karlfeldt (1864–1931)
1918 Literature Prize was refused.
1931 Literature Prize awarded posthumously.
He turned down the prize to dedicate himself to academy matters as a member and secretary from 1904 till the date of his death.
Erik Axel Eriksson came from old Swiss mining families on both his father’s and mother’s sides. He attended schools in his hometown of Folkarna as well as in Västerås. In 1889 Erik Axel adopted the name Karlfeldt, by which he would be known from then on. It was not a family name but was derived from the title of his father’s property. Rural culture had an influence on him throughout his life, and it became a favorite subject of his future literary work.
Karlfeldt started to write poems while still a student and the first collection, Vildmarks-och kärleksvisor (Songs of the Wilderness and of Love), was published in the autumn of 1895, three years after he had graduated from the University of Uppsala. His professional activity, however, had already begun when, between 1893 and 1896, he taught in a private elementary school in Djursholm and gave lessons to adults in Molkom. Besides this, he was also a journalist for a Stockholm periodical for a short period of time.
After concluding his studies, he worked in the Royal Library in Stockholm, Sweden, for five years and then was appointed librarian at the Agricultural Academy. Meanwhile his poetic talents had begun to be noticed and, in 1904, he was elected to the Swedish Academy, becoming a member of the Nobel Institute of the Academy as well as a member of the Nobel Committee. In 1912 he was appointed permanent secretary of the academy and dedicated himself entirely to the position and to poetry.
In 1916 he married Gerda Holmberg and the couple had four children. In 1918 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, which, for ethical reasons, Karlfeldt turned down due to his very strong links with the academy. The rejection was so firm that there were practically no records of the distinction; according to the official lists the prize was not attributed.
In 1931, however, Karlfeldt was once again recognized with the Nobel Prize in Literature, this time posthumously. It was the only way the academy found to thank Karlfeldt without giving him the opportunity to turn down the prize.
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