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The Nobel Prize is an annual, international prize first awarded in 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. An associated prize in Economics has been awarded since 1969. Nobel Prizes have been awarded to over 881 individuals, of whom over 20% were Jews, although Jews comprise less than 0.2% of the world's population
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Jews have been recipients of all six awards, including 41% of economics, 28% of medicine, 26% of physics, 19% of chemistry, 13% of literature and 9% of all peace awards. The first Jewish recipient, Adolf von Baeyer, was awarded the prize in Chemistry in 1905. As of 2016, the most recent Jewish recipients included J. Michael Kosterlitz (physics), Oliver Hart (economics) and Bob Dylan (literature).
Jewish laureates Elie Wiesel and Imre Kertész survived the extermination camps during the Holocaust, while François Englert survived by being hidden in orphanages and children's homes. Others, such as Walter Kohn, Otto Stern, Albert Einstein, Hans Krebs and Martin Karplus had to flee Nazi Germany to avoid persecution. Still others, including Rita Levi-Montalcini, Herbert Hauptman, Salvador Luria, Robert Furchgott, Arthur Kornberg, and Jerome Karle experienced significant antisemitism in their careers.
The oldest person ever to receive a Nobel Prize was Leonid Hurwicz, a Polish-American Jew who received the 2007 prize in Economics when he was 90 years old.
Forced to decline prize
Boris Pasternak, a Russian Jew, winner of the 1958 prize for literature, initially accepted the award, but—after intense pressure from Soviet authorities—subsequently declined it.
Nobel Laureates Boulevard
The Israeli city of Rishon LeZion has a street in it dedicated to honoring all Jewish Nobel laureates. The street, called Tayelet Hatnei Pras Nobel (Nobel Laureates Boulevard/Promenade), has a monument with attached plaque for each Nobel laureate.