Since the inauguration of Nobel Prize in 1901, until 2024, three Bengali persons and one Bengali origin person—four in all, have won this award. The first Bengali as well as the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913, was Rabindranath Tagore (born in British India, now India), in literature. Later in 1998, Amartya Sen (born in British India, now India) in Economics, in 2006 Muhammad Yunus (born in British India, now Bangladesh) in Peace, and in 2019 Abhijit Banerjee (born in India), won this award in Economics.
List
Portrait NameBorn & DiedCountryField Year Rational Rabindranath TagoreBorn: Kolkata, Bengal, British IndiaDied: Kolkata, Bengal, British India Literature 1913 For his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West Amartya SenBorn: Shantiniketan, Bengal, British India Economics 1998 For his contributions to welfare economics Human development theory, Capability approach Muhammad Yunus Born: Hathazari, Chittagong, Bengal, British India Peace 2006 For his contribution of the concept of the microcredit concept. and creating economic and social development from below.Shared the Prize with Grameen Bank. Abhijit BanerjeeBorn: Mumbai, Maharashtra, IndiaEconomics2019 For their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty Use of RCTs in development economics
Nominees The following list consists of individuals who were nominated for the Nobel Prize but never won it. Portrait Nominee Born Died Year(s) Field Country NoteRabindranath TagoreKolkata, Bengal, British IndiaKolkata, Bengal, British India1913LiteratureFor his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.Nominated by: Thomas Sturge Moore (1870–1944)
Won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.Rabindranath DattaKolkata, Bengal, British IndiaKolkata, Bengal, British India1916LiteratureNominated by: Mano M Gangedy Raya Yatindra N ChondhuryUpendranath BrahmachariSardanga, Purbasthali, Bengal, British IndiaKolkata, Bengal, British India1929, 1942Physiology or MedicineDiscovered Urea Stibamine (antimonial compound for treatment of kala-azar) and a new disease, Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.Nominated by: Sudhamoy Ghosh (1890–1970) U P Basu M N Bose Subodh Chandra Mahalanobis (1867–1953) C C BoseMeghnad SahaSeoratali, Dhaka, Bengal, British India(now in Gazipur, Bangladesh) New Delhi1930, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1951, 1955PhysicsFor developing the Saha ionization equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars.Nominated by: Debendra Mohan Bose (1885–1975) Sisir Kumar Mitra (1890–1963) Arthur Compton (1892–1962)Harimohan Banerjee Kolkata, West Bengal, India1934, 1936, 1938PeaceLiteratureFor his book "Secrets of Religion and Way to Peace".Nominated by: Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar (1875–1950) S K Gupta He also wrote a pamphlet called "View of Peace".Bijay Chandra Majumdar Khanakul, Faridpur, British India
(present-day Bangladesh) Kolkata, Bengal, British India1937, 1939LiteratureNominated by: Sen Satyendranath (1909–?) Mukundadeb ChatterjeeSanjib Kumar Chaudhuri British India1938, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971PeaceLiteratureFor his work for World Order, World Peace and World Federalism Movement and for his book "A Constitution for World Government" and for his authorship of treaties important to the world order and his services to humanity.Nominated by: Mahmoud Hasan (1897–?) K Danungo R. C. Majumdar (1888–1980) Lord John Boyd Orr (1880 – 1971) Lalita Rajya Laxmi Bateshwar Singh Primatha Chaudhuri D. P. Roy Choudhury He was the Vice-President of the Asian Congress for World Federation held at Hiroshima in 1952, and Chairman of a Commission in the special Session of the People's World Convention held in Paris in 1951.Sri Aurobindo GhoseKolkata, Bengal, British IndiaPondicherry, French India (present-day Pondicherry, Puducherry Union Territory, India)1943, 1950PeaceLiteratureNominated by Francis Younghusband (1863–1942) Saileswar SenSatyendra Nath BoseKolkata, Bengal, British IndiaKolkata, West Bengal, India1956, 1959, 1962, 1968, 1969, 1970PhysicsFor developing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate in Quantum Mechanics.Nominated by: Kedareswar Banerjee (1900–1975) Daulat Singh Kothari (1906–1993) Shibapratim Bagchi (?) Anindya Dutta (?) M. G. K. Menon (1928–2016)Sudhindra Nath Ghose Bardhaman, Bengal, British India London, England1965LiteratureNominated by: Henri de Ziégler (1885–1970)Das Moni Roy Memari, Bengal, British India1967PeaceNominated by: Subimal Kunnar MukherjeeBinay Ranjan Sen Dibrugarh, Assam, India Kolkata, West Bengal, India1967, 1968PeaceFor his exceptional contribution to the peace of the world through his work at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).Nominated by: Rakel Seweriin (1906–1995) Maurice Sauvé (1923–1992)Jogesh Chandra Bhattacharyac. British India India1969PeaceFor his dedication to the propagation of spiritualism through which alone, he believes, peace will dawn on Earth. His book "Prayers for a New Advent" is groundbreaking in the field of propagation of the ideals of peace.Nominated posthumously by: Jugal Kishore MundalTarasankar BandyopadhyayLabhpur, Birbhum, Bengal, British IndiaKolkata, West Bengal, India1971, 1972, 1973LiteratureNominated by: Krishna Kripalani (1907–1992) The Swedish Academy’s Nobel CommitteeSuniti Kumar ChatterjiShibpur, Howrah, Bengal, British IndiaKolkata, West Bengal, India1972, 1973LiteratureNominated by: Pratul Chandra Gupta (1910–1990) The Swedish Academy’s Nobel CommitteeSri ChinmoyBoalkhali, Chittagong, Bengal, British India
(present-day Bangladesh)New York City, United States1972, 1973, 1974PeaceLiteratureNominated by: Bernard O´Kelly (1926–2005) Norman Holmes Pearson (1909–1975) Joseph Axelrod (1915–2010) Karl Kroeber (1926–2009) Peter A Pitzele (1941–) Francis C. CadyMujibur Rahman Tungipara, Bengal, British India
(present-day Bangladesh) Dhaka, Bangladesh1975PeaceNominated by: Abdul Malek Ukil (1924–1987) Assassinated before the only chance to be rewarded.Mahasweta Devi Dhaka, Bengal, British India
(present-day Bangladesh) Kolkata, West Bengal, India2012LiteratureTaslima Nasrin Mymensingh, East Pakistan
(present-day Bangladesh)(aged )2005PeaceMuhammad YunusHathazari, Chittagong, Bengal, British India(aged )2006PeaceFor his contribution of the concept of the microcredit concept. and creating economic and social development from below. Shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with Grameen Bank.Dr Ruhul Abid1961 Dhaka, Bangladesh(aged )2020PeaceFor his humanitarian healthcare initiatives through HAEFA, providing critical medical services to underprivileged communities, Rohingya refugees, and garment workers in Bangladesh, alongside pioneering digital health innovations like the Nirog system and COVID-19 response efforts.
Jointly Nominated with HAEFA by: University of Massachusetts BostonRyan Saadi6 December 1964 Ishwardi Upazila, Pabna, Bangladesh(aged )2023PeaceFor his leadership in advancing accessible medical innovation and biotech solutions impacting global health equity through his role as CEO founder of Tevogen Bio.
Nominated by: Dr. Curtis Patton (1940–)
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