# Nobel prize awarded by Sweden. Peace prize by Norway **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857 "2011-12-20T16:16:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/1 "2011-12-20T16:16:55Z")
All of the Nobel prizes are awarded by Sweden except the Piece Prize which is awarded by Norway. Why this arrangement? Nobel was a Swede and had no Noregean heritage. I know Norway and Sweden were under a single king until 1905, but why were the prizes split that way? As far as I can tell, there was nothing in Nobel’s will stipulating this. An interesting story is that Sweden claimed the Nobel Institute’s building in Norway Swedish property during WWII when the Germans occupied Norway. This was done to protect the Nobel committee members who were stuck in Nazi occupied Norway and keep the ommitte’s work safe. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/2 "2011-12-20T16:20:49Z")
Because that’s what Alfred Nobel’s will [stated](http://www.nobelprize.org/faq/nobel_prize.html): > [@](#): > > Why is the Nobel Peace Prize awarded in Oslo and all the other Nobel Prizes in Stockholm? > > Alfred Nobel left no explanation as to why the prize for peace was to be awarded by a Norwegian committee while the other four prizes were to be handled by Swedish committees. In the will he wrote: > > “The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiology or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting.” Edited to add, the full text of his will is [here](http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/will/will-full.html). ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/3 "2011-12-20T16:37:01Z")
Yeah, I just found the will. And it was written in the Swedish Norwegian Club in Paris too. Still interesting that division. I guess there was no transnational Swede/Noregean institute even though Norway was part of Sweden at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/4 "2011-12-20T16:38:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Because that’s what Alfred Nobel’s will [stated](http://www.nobelprize.org/faq/nobel_prize.html): Doesn’t exactly answer _why_ Nobel chose to do it that way, which is what the OP is apparently asking. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/5 "2011-12-20T16:43:02Z")
But it does contradict his inexplicable statement that the will doesn’t state that. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/6 "2011-12-20T18:01:41Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Yeah, I just found the will. And it was written in the Swedish Norwegian Club in Paris too. Still interesting that division. I guess there was no transnational Swede/Noregean institute even though Norway was part of Sweden at that time. Norway was not part of Sweden. Our two countries were in a personal union, sharing a king (Swedish) and foreign policy (Swedish). All internal matters were subject to the Norwegian constitution, the Norwegian parliament and a Norwegian government. Although the government was picked by and ruled on behalf of the king it did so within the constraints of Norwegian law. The reason I’ve always heard for the division was that us Norwegians hadn’t started any wars, unlike the Swedes, for a long time. Of course we hadn’t had the freedom to do so, but it still seems like the most likely explanation. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/7 "2011-12-20T19:50:52Z")
I’m happy to be proven wrong, but I believe the answer to why is “nobody knows.” Nobel himself never explained his rationale publicly, and in fact the whole scheme was unknown until after his death. The other three awards were assigned to bodies that already existed. The Norwegian body did not and there was a fight over how it was to be created. Are there any english language bios of Nobel in print? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/8 "2011-12-20T21:19:53Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > Are there any english language bios of Nobel in print? [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb\_sb\_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=alfred+nobel&x=8&y=17](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=alfred+nobel&x=8&y=17) ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/9 "2011-12-20T21:28:47Z")
> [@naita](#): > > [Amazon.com : alfred nobel](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=alfred+nobel&x=8&y=17) So, no. The first three listings are for children’s books, the rest are for used copies of out of print books. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bagistan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Bagistan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bagistan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/10 "2011-12-20T22:25:11Z")
I’ve always heard the reason was that since the Norwegian government and parliament didn’t have any foreign policy or foreign relations at the time, they were assumed to have a greater shot at being immune to diplomatic considerations in selecting the awarding committee. I always thought this was the official explanation and only now learned there isn’t one. I was probably taught the above in school (Sweden). ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/11 "2011-12-21T07:50:09Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > So, no. The first three listings are for children’s books, the rest are for used copies of out of print books. Thanks. The fourth lists seven sellers of new copies. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/12 "2011-12-21T09:27:16Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Our two countries were in a personal union, sharing a king (Swedish) and foreign policy (Swedish). I’d say that foreign affairs were a joint thing. After all, Norway did have a foreign department, although it was situated in Stockholm. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nobel-prize-awarded-by-sweden-peace-prize-by-norway/606857/13 "2011-12-21T11:32:00Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > I’d say that foreign affairs were a joint thing. After all, Norway did have a foreign department, although it was situated in Stockholm. The section on the union in practice in the Wikipedia article agrees with what I thought was (and still think is) the case: > **[Union between Sweden and Norway | The Union in practice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_between_Sweden_and_Norway#The_Union_in_practice)** > > The conditions of the Union as laid down in the Convention of Moss, the revised Norwegian constitution, and the Act of Union, secured for Norway more independence than was intended in the Treaty of Kiel. To all appearances, Norway had entered the Union voluntarily and steadfastly denied Swedish superiority, while many Swedes saw Norway as an inferior partner and a prize of war. > Legally, Norway had the status of an independent constitutional monarchy, with more internal independence than it had ... > [@](#): > > The foreign service was directly subordinate to the king > > […] > > foreign policy was decided in the Swedish cabinet and conducted by the Swedish ministry of foreign affairs. When matters of foreign policy were discussed in cabinet meetings, the only Norwegian present who could plead Norway’s case was the prime minister. The Swedish Riksdag could indirectly influence foreign policy, but not the Norwegian Storting. Because the representations abroad were appointed by the Swedish government and mostly staffed with Swedes, the Union was often seen by foreigners to be more like a single state than two sovereign states.