The Nobel Prize 2002 - 2012

[Dennism]

In the interest of not forgetting about the winners of this year´s prizes, I thought I would post some of their photos. On the 7th of December, several of the winners held a news conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences which decides the Physics and Chemistry prizes. The recipients of the prize for Medicine held a news conference at the Karolinska Institute on the 7th as well. The recipients this year are:


Physics: David J. Gross, H. David Politzer and Frank Wilczek

Chemistry: [font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose

Economic Sciences: [/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott

Literature: [/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Elfriede Jelinek

Medicine: [/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Richard Axel and Linda Buck(Statue of Nobel behind her in photo)
[/font][font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Peace: Wangari Maathai

[/font] Jelinek videotaped her lecture and it was shown at the Swedish Academy on Tuesday. Horace Engdahl, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, will travel to Vienna later this month to present her the medal and diploma, along with the cash award of 10 million kronor ($1.478 million USD) that goes with it, in a ceremony at the Swedish ambassador's residence.

 

[Josefine]

Inbjuden till Nobelfesten - av kungen

Italienske Alessandro, 12, skrev ett brev - och blev gäst hos Carl XVI Gustaf


ROM.
I dag sätter sig 12-årige Alessandro på flyget till Stockholm.
I fickan har en inbjudan från Sveriges kung Carl Gustaf.
-Kom till Stockholm som min gäst så får du se Nobelprisutdelningen, skriver kungen.
Med på resan följer hela familjen med pappa Salvatore, mamma Carmela och lillebrorsan Mirko.
Det hela började med ett brev från Allesandro till Sverige:

"Drömmer om ett pris"
-Käre svenske kung, skrev Alessandro.
-Jag heter Alessandro Pitruzzelli och är 12 år. Min lärarinna har berättat för oss om Nobel och nu drömmer jag om att en dag få vinna ett av hans pris. Jag hoppas få träffa dig för jag vill utmana dig på ett schackparti, skrev Alessandro.
Några dagar senare kom ett tackbrev från kungens hov, med ett signerat foto.
Alessandro skrev ett nytt brev. I det förklarade han att det var dags att även barnen fick ett Nobelpris. Det borde gå till någon som gjort något stort för barn i nöd världen runt.
Vid det här laget hade nyheten om korrespondensen nått Italiens stora veckotidning Oggi, och Italiens klassiska barnsångsfestival, lo Zecchino d"Oro i Bologna.
Alessandro fick åka dit för att ta emot ett pris för sin idé inför miljoner tv-tittare - och träffa Sveriges ambassadör Staffan Wrigstad.
Han hade med sig en stor överraskning:
-Alessandro fick en bjudresa till Stockholm för hela familjen. Sveriges turistråd och SAS ställde upp, säger ambassadör Staffan Wrigstad till Aftonbladet.

Slipper bära frack
Därefter fick hovet veta vilken sensation kungens brevväxling orsakat i italienska media. Då kom inbjudan från kungen.
Alessandros stolte far Salvatore jobbar som murare i Milano, men har ett problem - han saknar frack.
Efter många förhandlingar på högsta nivå lär han klara sig med vanlig mörk kostym i Konserthuset.
Är man kung Carl Gustafs gäst är allt möjligt.

summery of the article above.

Italien boy is guast at the nobel this year on a invetion from the swedish king
At first he wrote a letter saying that he have red about the nobel and he want in the future win a nobel prize.i also said he one day wou.ld like to met the king and challange him in chess.he got a thank you letter first.
he then wrote a new letter asking the king to maek a childrens nobel prize for those who make the world better for children,
italien prees got hold of the letter corospondence and a children festival invited him to collect a prize there he met with the swedish ambasodor, the whole family got a trip to stockholm from SAS and turisrådet.
after this the court got notion of the press in italy and invited the boy and his family.

 

[Lena]

Next year I will also write a letter to the king Well, I´m happy for this boy. This will be something he will never forget.

 

[Reina]

summery of the article above.

Italien boy is guast at the nobel this year on a invetion from the swedish king
At first he wrote a letter saying that he have red about the nobel and he want in the future win a nobel prize.i also said he one day wou.ld like to met the king and challange him in chess.he got a thank you letter first.
he then wrote a new letter asking the king to maek a childrens nobel prize for those who make the world better for children,
italien prees got hold of the letter corospondence and a children festival invited him to collect a prize there he met with the swedish ambasodor, the whole family got a trip to stockholm from SAS and turisrådet.
after this the court got notion of the press in italy and invited the boy and his family.

Dude!! WHy did I not think of that???

 

[GrandDuchess]

Translation - Part 4

Everyone who is a part of this impressing organisation, are calm and radiates with confidence. Most things seem to be under control in Stockholm. But how is it then going for the Laureates in their respective home countries? This is something the attachés can tell us, they are lended out by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to act as personal Aide-de-Camps for the Laureates during their stay in Stockholm. Seven women and three men, this time young diplomats who seize the opportunity to socialize with geniuses and attend the banquet.

When there is a role call for them at the Nobel Foundation, they get a wise word to bring with them from Michael Sohlman: In this mission, you are ours and not the Swedish Governments. And remember that the car from Freys hyrverk is the Laureates, not yours.

The attachés are to make contact with their respective Laureate, and gather information on everything from food preferences to special interest. The idea is that they will be at help from the time the Laureates land in Sweden, to the moment they are waved off.

- In the best cases, it will be friendship for life, says Michael Sohlman. See it as a chemical experiment.

Elisabeth Ahlberg and Charlotte Stenhammar from the company “Hela programmet” are stationed in the foyer of Grand Hôtel all week to be at help for the attachés. They look at the guest list with an experienced eye and immediately state that there are a lot of kids in the entourages this year. That means Junibacken, Skansen and ice-skating in Kungsträdgården.

Hairdresser- and barber appointments are another thing that needs to be taken care of. Some guests want to go to museums or Christmas bazaars. Nothing is impossible, not even to find a table for the whole family in Christmas times, should they want to go out to eat together.

When we meet the attachés next time, they have had contact with their respective Laureates. How is it going? Well, the men and Medicine winner Linda Buck are working on their Nobel Lectures while their partners have started to worry about the weather in Stockholm, and how many shirts they need to bring. (The Laureates are not to bring their own tails; instead the Nobel Foundation rents one for each ones, after they fill in a form with their measurements).

Several of this year’s Laureates have had special requests: Medicine winner Richard Axel wants to visit the Thielska Gallery. Economy winner Edward C Prescott has one grandchild with him who has a birthday and wonders if there are hamburgers. Physics winner David Politzer wants to visit Tom Tits Experiment Shop in Södertälje – will there be time for that? Physics winner David J Gross has an aunt who would like to play piano for the family – how do one find a suitable place for that? Something for his attaché Jamal Alassaad to think about.

A frequent Stockholm visitor like the Israeli Chemistry winner Aaron Ciechanover said to his attaché, Elisabeth Eklind, that it was unnecessary with a limousine – he will take the airport buss like always.

The attachés have walked around both the Concert Hall and the City Hall before the big day, to be prepared. They will tell the Laureates to leave the outdoor clothes with the chauffeur in the car, and they know where the toilets are. They also get to tell the guests that there is a smoking ban in the City Hall.

One big task that the Foundation takes care of with great ambition is the table placing in the Blue Hall. They have to meet special requests (the ex-wife cannot sit to close the new wife, this and that person only speaks French etc). Also, the ones who lay this giant puzzle in order have also noted where the person sat before, if invited previously. It will never happen like it once did for Prime Minister Tage Erlander, who in his diaries complained over that he for the fourth time in a row had to sit next to the same Mistress of the Robes, even though the room was filled with geniuses. Michael Sohlman believes that he has arranged at least one marriage by a fortunate placing.

When the Laureates have eaten in the Blue Hall, danced in the Golden Hall and said hello to the King and Queen in the Prince’s Gallery – they can go to the after party at the student’s party at the Royal Institute of Technology. It is called “nightcap”, and is usually very relaxed and nice. Finally, the Laureates get to relax and socialise with young people who understand science and research. The chauffeurs wait in the cars until the tired Nobel Laureate wishes to return to the hotel.

The last thing on the schedule in Stockholm is when the Laureates have to leave a suitable account number to the Vice Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, Åke Altéus, so that he can order the payment of the prize money to the Laureates. After that, they can go home – but many also choose to visit a university outside of Stockholm.

One earlier Laureate has called himself a “Survivor of the Nobel Ordeal”. But old Laureates are happy to come back again, and that of anything must be a good grade. Also this year a number of previous Laureates will join the activities during the Nobel Week: Physics winner Leon Lederman, Medicine winner Torsten Wiesel, Bengt Samuelsson (the Chairman of the Nobel Foundation), Stanley Prusiner, Eric Kandel and Leland Hartwell, as well as the Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel.

Michael Sohlman does not sit at the Honorary Table during the banquet in the Blue Hall. He is still “operative” during the night and has to be able to leave if something happens. But he enjoys hearing how the atmosphere rises after the first taste of the champagne. A chemical experiment that too, if not as explosive as the founder’s.

Alfred Nobel. Would the old dynamite man have enjoyed his own banquet?

- Probably not, he was very reserved and not much for big events. But he would have appreciated meeting the Laureates at a smaller gathering, Michael Sohlman thinks.

 

[GrandDuchess]

Translation - Part 3

The menu in the City Hall is a secret until the last minute, but Michael Sohlman has during the fall test eaten and drank, often in the Boberg Room at the Nobel Foundation. It is the room where architect Ferdinand Boberg’s sketches to a Nobel Museum hangs. “Thank God they were not put into effect”, says Michael Sohlman about the giant thing on Strandvägen near the Djurgården Bridge that would have taken up a large part of the Foundation’s assets.

A lot of devotion is put into the choice of music in connection to the Prize Awards in the Concert Hall. The choices make Michael Sohlman feel like an old Sovereign who can order up any music of choice.

- It’s not the easiest. We sit and dig cd’s on the Concert Hall.

It is the length of the pieces that decided it in the end, they cannot be too long, and he would also like to find a connection to this year’s prizes. When Douglass North and Robert Fogel were awarded the Prize in Economics, they had done a lot of research about the railways meaning the US economy – and then the “Jernbanegalopp” (jern = old word for iron) was perfect.

When about a month is left, on 3 November, there is a big meeting at the Nobel Foundation. Michael Sohlman scrutinizes his marshals. Many have been there before, and the chatter is natural. It is the Royal Court, SAS, the Karolinska Institute, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Freys hyrverk and Sveriges Television. Everyone is needed to make the Nobel Week the unforgettable experience that the Foundation wants to compliment their guests too.

- Welcome to a mighty mobilization of good forces, says Michael Sohlman.

The evil forces are kept on a distance by the Police and Securitas who guard the Concert Hall and the City Hall during the big day.
There are always a few un-invited guests that try to get in, says Lennart Adel from Securitas. They come dressed up, but without a ticket they are not let in.

Jose Aguilera from Freys hyrverk says that it is always hard with the transport from the Concert Hall to the City Hall. This year it will be extra hard, because the ceremonies are held on a Friday – and then comes in connections with the Stockholm inhabitants usual holiday traffic jam.

Set designer Tore Blomberg is in charge of the entertaining in the Blue Hall (the hall in the City Hall where the banquet is held). The hall is difficult; it is 23 meters to the roof and long after-connotations that “changes the experience in the room”.

Who does he make the effort for? Is it the Nobel Foundation, the Laureates, the 1 260 guests or the multi million audience in front of the TV?

- Hard to know, he says.

Gunnar Kaj is not certain either. He arranges the flowers for the 5th year in a row. The order went out in the beginning of October. One week before the Nobel Day, 10 000 flowers and 6 000 green leafs arrive from San Remo in Italy by a cold transport. He then has three days to arrange them in the City Hall. Last year he accomplished a Nordic winter wave movement at the table – this year there will be more colours, he dares to say.

- If it were for the Laureates, one could really have the same flowers on the tables year after year, but one wants to make something new for the Foundation every year, says Gunnar Kaj.

If someone would faint, Professor Lars Rydén from the Karolinska Institute stands ready in the City Hall together with a nurse. Between 4 and 13 December, the Karolinska Institute also has a constant on-call duty for the Laureates.

- To get the Nobel Prize is an enormous event in their life, a physical excitement. They are not very young either. It has happened that we have had a Laureate lying here, that we have had to put on the tails and drive to the awards just in time, he tells us.

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST >>>>>>>>​

 

[GrandDuchess]

Translation - Part 2

When the Nobel Week comes, the enormous work of choosing the Laureates is since long taken care of. Nominations have come from academic and other institutions across the glove, and the prize giving academics in Sweden as well as the Norwegian Nobel Committee have made the final judgement.

The highlight of the year is of course when the Laureates are made public in October. The moment after their name has been pronounced at the respective award giving academies, if flies out on the Internet. Some of the websites employees have in due time received information on who will be awarded, but have kept it a secret behind locks and curtains.

Michael Sohlman is very obvious in his pride for the website, nobelprize.org, that has 15 million visitors last year, and this year is already heading toward 18 million. On the website, there is all kinds of information about the prizes and Laureates, but also entertaining reading and educational games.

Everything is in English; this is the Nobel Foundation’s window to the world. North America stands for 70% of the visits, but Asia is coming strongly. Cosmopolite Nobel would surely have thought is was in order.

The four little servers on Sturegatan have so far been able to cope with the enormous storm of visitors on the same day that the respective Laureates were announced. But there is a back up, if by any reason the main servers would go off, says Hans Mehlin.

This years Laureates are twelve – never before have so many been women. Unfortunately we will never get to see the Literature Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and the Medicine winner Linda Buck in the same picture. Elfriede Jelinek is not coming to the festivities in Stockholm because she suffers from social phobia, and the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo.

Everyone that has hosted a reception knows that there are many things to think about and consider. Honorary guests in this case are the Laureates and their partners. They have been promised several millions so they are guaranteed to be in a good mood. (The one who is alone in winning a Nobel Prize gets 10 million Swedish crowns, and you don’t pay taxes on Nobel Prizes – unless you are American!). Every Laureate can invite 16 people. Besides them there is also the Royal Family, politicians and people from the business life, scholars and some of their students.

- The schedule for the Nobel Week is in a firm frame, but with some moveable components, says Michael Sohlman. This year, he has moved the reception for the Laureates to the Nobel Museum in the Stock Exchange House in Gamla Stan/Old Town instead of having it at Grand Hôtel. They get to meet each other, have a drink, eat hoers d’Oevres and sign a chair on the underside, and this takes place on 6 December.

The chairs are the usual chairs that stand in the café in every day life – but turn the chair around and look under it! The Nobel Lectures are held on 8 December, and there are luncheons and receptions, visits and interviews, and on 10 December is the Prize Awards and Banquet.

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST >>>>>>>>​

 

[GrandDuchess]

Translation - Part 1

Here is my translation of a really interesting article about the preparations for the Nobel Week that I found in Dagen Nyheter (DN).

Noble Secrets

On Friday, the Nobel Prize is awarded in Stockholm. Cecilia Jacobsson, Fredrik Funck and Sandra Qvist have been inside the Nobel Foundation’s headquarters and met Michael Sohlman, the festivities own Napoleon, during his most hectic time.

When the Nobel Foundation’s Executive Director is asked to describe his work before the Nobel Week, he pictures it as being the commander for a giant army.
- It is a very large operations, that commands planning into every smallest detail. For the Laureates it should be a pleasant experience. They should be so overwhelmed that they wonder why no one opens the door to their old car when they get home.

Michael Sohlman also hopes that also the Swedish people gains something from the Nobel festivities during the week, when science and culture for once is in the centre.

The Nobel Foundation’s headquarters is a reverencing building on Sturegatan 14 with lots of marble and thick carpets. Architect Ragnar Hjorth has had half naked ladies in bronze lift torches that spread a flickering light over the stairs in the entrance room. The first thing one sees is a giant bust of Alfred Bernhard Nobel. It resembles more a mausoleum then a “party arrangers” chancellery.

Michael Sohlman is not any “party arranger” at all. He is the keeper and first interpreter of Alfred Nobel’s will, the odd piece that makes people both rich and immortal – but that also bewilders and causes debate since 100 years.

Nobel wanted that those who “during the past year” had benefited humanity most to get an award. That his will is not followed in this case is obvious. Many get the prize for efforts made far away in time. Another formulation that also bewilders during the years is the one that the Nobel Prize in Literature should be awarded to a person whose work has affected humanity to move towards an “idealistic” way. The old interpretation of this word made it that Leo Tolstoj never got the Nobel Prize – but today the interpretation is not a lacking of compromise as it was then.

A sad clause comes in the end of the will. There Alfred Nobel asks the doctors to cut open his artery to make sure that he is really dead. He was afraid to be buried alive.

Despite the gloomy start (the will) – the Nobel Week is a happy celebration. It consists of a whole series of happenings that is expected to cost about 7 million Swedish crowns this year. As the guarantee that everything is worthy, is the Nobel Foundation, a private foundation started in 1900.

Michael Sohlman has been the Executive Director for the Nobel Foundation for 13 years, which is a long time for an executive director, but a short time for the Nobel Foundation. It’s easy to get the idea that he has been destined for the assignment. His grandfather, Ragnar Sohlman, was Nobel’s assistant and executor of his will, and a lot in his background looks like pure preparations for what would come: brought up in Russia (just like Nobel), career within the Ministry of Finance (used to large sums of money) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (international contacts).

Besides arranging the Nobel Week, he keeps/manages the portfolio, what Nobel left behind – with great success. He coordinates the different Nobel Committees and is in charge of a growing information activity, that comprise the Nobel Museum with 30 employees and the website with 20 employees. The actual Nobel Foundation has 10 employees.

- I took over a well-oiled machinery, and has had the benefit of having brilliant co-workers, says Michael Sohlman, who gladly points out the prestigious academic merits of his surroundings. He himself bicycles back and forth through Stockholm, but always manages to look stylish and collected as soon as he has taken off the helmet.

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST >>>>>>>>​

The pictures:
1 = The Head of Protocol at the City Hall shows the attachés around. Here they are in the Prince’s Gallery, where the Laureates are to greet the Royal Family after the dinner.
2 = The House of the Nobel Foundation
3 = Stefan Forsberg from the Concert Hall and the Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, Michael Sohlman, listens to music in the process of choosing the right pieces
4 = The table placing is important – who gets to be seated next to the Queen? Here is a table placing planning card, used in the planning process
5 = An attaché lists things to remember
6 = Top secret. The Nobel dessert is not uncovered until it is served. Here the Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, Michael Sohlman tries one of the many menus suggestions.
7 = One month is left until the Nobel Day – the “good forces” are gathered at the Nobel Foundation
8 = The Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, Michael Sohlman, always bicycles. Even when he is due at the Royal Palace of Stockholm

 

[Lena]

Thank you GrandDuchess! Very interesting. It seems the laureates are in very good hands. They have deserved it and it makes the "distinction of their lifework" probably even more exciting for them.

 

[GrandDuchess]

Important news!

Dagens Nyheter has just published some hot information (added just before midnight) – they have some information on the table placing at the Table of Honour at the Nobel Banquet in the Blue Hall at the City Hall tomorrow:

# The King will get the Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Linda Buck, to the table

# The Queen (sitting diagonally opposite the King) will get Bengt Samuelsson, the Chairman of the Nobel Foundation (and an old Nobel Prize Winner, also the host of the evening), to the table

# Princess Lilian (sitting to the left of Bengt Samuelsson) will get the Speaker of the Parliament, Björn von Sydow, to the table

# Crown Princess Victoria will get the Nobel Prize winner in Physics, David Gross, to the table

# Prince Carl Philip will get Elisabeth Devine Wilczek, wife of Nobel Prize Winner in Physics Frank Wilczek, to the table

# Princess Madeleine will get the Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, Avram Hershko, to the table

# Prime Minister Göran Persson will be seated next to Madeleine von Sydow, the wife of the Speaker of the Parliament. To the left of Göran Person is the King’s table lady, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics, Linda Buck

#Anitra Steen, the wife of Prime Minister Göran Persson, will get the Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, Finn Kydland, to the table


A little facts:
There are 63 tables at the banquet. For them 7 000 parts of china, 5 000 glasses, 10 000 cutlery pieces and 470 meters of linen cloths are used.

One Laureate from each category will make a short thank you speech. They are:
Richard Axel, medicine
Avram Hershko, chemistry
David Gross, physics
Edward Prescott, economics

 

[GrandDuchess]

Released info from the Nobel Foundation

The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet in Stockholm, 2004

The celebration of the Festival of The Nobel Foundation, 10 December, begins with the formal Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall. The year's prizes are presented for the 1,600 guests who then watch the Laureates as they one by one respectfully receive their medals and diplomas from the hand of H.M. the King. The seats in the stalls are reserved primarily for the Laureates' families, representatives of the Prize-Awarding Institutions, the Riksdag and Government and Corps Diplomatique.

Seated on the podium are approximately 90 members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Karolinska Institutet's Nobel Assembly and the Swedish Academy. Here too are the Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation and previous Laureates. In front of them sit this year's Laureates and Their Majesties the King and Queen, H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria, H.R.H. Prince Carl Philip, H.R.H. Princess Madeleine and H.R.H. Princess Lilian.

Presentation Speeches
The Chairman of the Nobel Foundation and Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1982, Professor Bengt Samuelsson, holds an introductory speech after which presentations of the year's Nobel Laureates and Prize Winners in Economics follow.

The presentation speeches will be held by:
Professor Lars Brink, Physics
Professor Lars Thelander, Chemistry
Professor Sten Grillner, Physiology or Medicine
Professor Horace Engdahl, Literature
Professor Torsten Persson, Economic Sciences

The formal ceremony will be framed by short musical interludes and vivid flower arrangements. When the National Anthem has been played and the Royal Family has left the podium, it is custom for the Laureates' family members to ascend the stage to congratulate the Laureates.

This Year's Floral Decorations
To honour the memory of Alfred Nobel, who spent the last years of his life in Sanremo, Italy, and died there on 10 December 1896, the City of Sanremo sends flowers every year to decorate the Concert Hall and the City Hall. This year, the Concert Hall is being decorated with Sanremo's most ubiquitous flower – the carnation.

The backdrop, with its red and cerise tones, is decorated with carnations, gerbera, blood-red roses, fescue grass and phaelenopsis orchids. Silver fir and branches of juniper provide a contrasting Swedish winter feel by the orchestra podium and the edge of the stage. There are also stalks of lilac phaelenopsis. A total of 13,000 flowers pride the Concert Hall. Helén Magnusson of Hässelby Blommor florists is responsible for the arrangements.

Musical Interludes
The music performed during the Nobel Prize Award ceremony is by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and includes works by Elfrida Andrée, Joseph Martin Kraus, Giaocchino Rossini and Johann Sebastian Bach. The conductor is Staffan Larson with soprano Susanna Andersson as soloist.

The Nobel Banquet
In the evening after the ceremony in the Concert Hall comes the Banquet at the City Hall. On arrival, guests see the building illuminated against the December gloom, and once inside the Blue Hall, the golden Nobel tableware, lighted candles and intricate flower arrangements.

The Banquet programme follows tradition, beginning with the processional entry of the Royal Family and other guests of honour at 7 p.m. Prior to this, the guests of honour will have been presented to the King and Queen in the Prince's Gallery.

Behind the Master of Ceremonies are two female marshals followed by H.M. The King with his dinner partner, the wife of one of the Nobel Laureates in Physics, and H.M. The Queen with the Chairman of the Nobel Foundation and Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1982, Bengt Samuelsson, who is also the host of this evening's Banquet. Preceded by a trumpet fanfare by father and son trumpeters Olle and Mikael Hermansen, the procession enters to the accompaniment of organ music played by Mats Ericson.

At the very first Nobel Banquet in 1901, held in the Mirror Hall of the Grand Hôtel, there were 113 male guests in attendance. This year there will be approximately 1,300 guests, of which 200 are students.

Menu and Tableware
This year's menu has been composed by Magnus Lindström of the company Swedish Taste from Göteborg in collaboration with Magnus Johansson and Ted Johansson at Dessertakademien and Gunnar Ericsson of the Stadshuskällaren restaurant. Three complete menus were tested during the autumn with the final choice then refined and suitable wines selected. As usual, the menu will be secret until the Banquet has commenced at 7 p.m.

Restaurateur Ulf Östenius of the Stadshuskällaren restaurant in the City Hall is in charge of table-settings and serving staff. Among the copious staff are more than 20 chefs and 200 servers.

The table is laid with the special Nobel tableware set created for the 90th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in 1991 by three Swedish designers, Karin Björquist (Rörstrand/Gustavsberg), Gunnar Cyrén (Orrefors) and Ingrid Dessau (Klässbols Linneväveri). The Blue Hall's 65 tables are covered with approximately 470 metres of linen cloth and the meticulous table setting uses no less than about 7,000 porcelain pieces, 5,000 glasses and 10,000 items of silverware.

Before dessert, and on other occasions earlier during the evening, a “Divertissement” will be presented. The content and the participating artistes are also kept secret until the Banquet gets underway. After the coffee and liqueurs, there is a student parade of massed standards on the grand staircase and the upper balustrade. Colleges and universities from Stockholm and the provinces are represented.

The Banquet ends at approximately 10.30 p.m. when the Ambassadeur Orchestra, with soloists Malena Lazlo and Micke Grahn strike up the dance in the Golden Hall. During this part of the evening, Their Majesties the King and Queen receive the Laureates and their partners in the far end of the Prince's Gallery.

Flowering Rooms at City Hall
Almost 10,000 flowers and 5,000 green trimmings have been donated by the City of Sanremo for the City Hall decorations. Simple shapes and bright colours are the leitmotif. The twenty-five-metre-long table of honour will be laid with colourful lines of flowers. Framing the Banquet in the Blue Hall are flower arrangements in the shape of pillars, wreaths, medallions and pyramids placed on the table of honour, the staircase and balcony. The Prince's Gallery and its twenty-two standing candlesticks are bedecked with floral wreaths. The Golden Hall, the Three Crowns Hall and the foyer have also been decorated in harmonizing style.

For the fifth year, flower arrangements are by Gunnar Kaj, assisted by florists, carpenters and students from the florist course at the Komvux adult education college in Upplands-Bro, near Stockholm.

New Diploma Artists
The Nobel diplomas and medals are displayed in cabinets in the Prince's Gallery throughout the evening. This year, three new artists have been asked to create art for the Nobel diplomas. Karin Mamma Andersson has created the artwork for the diploma for the Laureate in Literature; Ingegerd Möller the art on the diplomas for the Laureates in Chemistry and Jordi Arkö the art on the diplomas for the Prize Winners in Economics. The diploma for the Laureates in Physics has a work by Nils G. Stenqvist, who has contributed art for the Royal Academy of Sciences since 1999. Annika Rücker is responsible for the calligraphy on all these diplomas.

The Medicine Laureates' diplomas portray the Nobel medal with calligraphy by Susan Duvnäs. The binding of the diplomas have been performed by Ingemar Dackéus at Knut Hässlers Bokbinderi. The medals have been made at the Royal Mint and their cases are handcrafted at casemaker Anders Eriksson's atelier.

Previous Nobel Laureates
Previous Nobel Laureates taking part in this year's celebrations are Leon M. Lederman (Physics, 1988), Stanley B. Prusiner (Physiology or Medicine, 1997), Eric R. Kandel (Physiology or Medicine, 2000) and Leland H. Hartwell (Physiology or Medicine, 2001) and Elie Wiesel (Peace, 1986). The previous Swedish Laureates present are Kai M. Siegbahn (Physics, 1981), Torsten N. Wiesel (Physiology or Medicine, 1981) and Bengt Samuelsson (Physiology or Medicine, 1982).

Other Guests
Among the guests are the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet and the Governors of the National Banks of Norway and Sweden, Svein Ingvar Gjedrem and Lars Heikensten as well as the Minister of Science and Technology in China, Professor Guanhua Xu.

Also attending the Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet are Dr. Henry T. Yang, Chancellor of University of California, Santa Barbara, Professor Yitzhak Apeloig, Chancellor of Technion, Haifa, Israel and Mr. Fred Kavli, founder of the Kavli Foundation.

Representatives of the Riksdag and Government are the Speaker Björn von Sydow and the three Deputy Speakers, Prime Minister, Göran Persson, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Laila Freivalds, and Minister for Education and Culture, Leif Pagrotsky.

Swedish participants are people who perform Nobel-related tasks in one capacity or another, or who support the sciences through donations or other work on behalf of the Foundation and of the Prize-Awarding Institutions. The Federation of Young Scientists, with support from the Nobel Foundation, organizes its Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SYISS), which is being attended by 30 young people from 18 different countries.

 

[GrandDuchess]

The Table of Honour - the Nobel Banquet 2004

 

[Gabriella]

Thank you for posting this information Grand Duchess. I have found it to be an informative and interesting read.

 

[Dennism]

In case anybody wants to save themselves some time, I will tell you now that there are 84 people at the table of honor. That´s a lot of people. Anyway, the wife of one of the winners, has a blog and she has been writing down her thoughts from the moment that her husband received the news. It´s pretty good and funny.

http://betsydevine.weblogger.com/newsItems/viewDepartment$nobel

 

[Dennism]

AP

[size=-1] Their discoveries may be hard for many to comprehend, but this year's Nobel Prize winners Wednesday did their best to explain what they did and how they did it.[/size]

[size=-1]To eager crowds made up mainly of university students and other researchers, laureates in medicine, chemistry, physics and economics held their traditional Nobel lectures Wednesday. [/size] [size=-1]For the laureates, the lectures are a way to not only shed light on their own work but also bring some media attention to the science fields they represent.The lectures, at Stockholm University, had such titles as "Asymptotic Freedom: From Paradox to Paradigm" and "How Polyubiquitin Chains are Made and Unmade." [/size]

[size=-1]Despite the complexity of the topics, the spacious lecture halls were filled by curious students, professors and others simply yearning to be a part of the Nobel experience. [/size]
[size=-1]Americans Linda B. Buck and Richard Axel, this year's physiology or medicine winners, talked about how they mapped the sense of smell in humans and animals. [/size]

[size=-1]Israelis Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover and American Irwin Rose, who shared this year's chemistry prize talked about how they discovered that human cells destroy unwanted proteins. They also discussed why their work could give rise to new therapies for diseases such as cervical cancer and cystic fibrosis. [/size][size=-1]Physics laureates David J. Gross, Frank Wilczek and H. David Politzer, all Americans, described the force that binds particles inside the atomic nucleus, and the work that led up to their discovery of asymptotic freedom, which has helped science get closer to "a theory for everything," according to the award academy. [/size]

[size=-1]Economics winners Edward C. Prescott of Arizona and Norwegian Finn E. Kydland explained why driving forces behind business cycle fluctuations and the design of economic policy are key areas in macroeconomic research. [/size][size=-1]On Tuesday, a prerecorded lecture by Austrian Elfriede Jelinek was shown at the Swedish Academy, which selects the literature prize winners. Jelinek did not attend any of the Nobel activities this week, citing poor health and a social phobia. [/size]

[size=-1]The Nobel Prizes will be handed out Friday, Dec. 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of their creator, Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. [/size][size=-1]Kenyan Wangari Maathai will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, the same day. [/size]

 

[Josefine]

Live webcast coming up!

http://nobelprize.org/nobel/events/video/ceremony-banquet-04/index.html

it starts in about 6 hours
o hope to see many at trf then watching it togather on the internet
i love the dinner part becouse they are always doing amazing things when serving the food and have great effects during the dinner often with light and performance.

but first it is nobel in norway in about 3 hours. meet me in the royal family of Norway forum

 

[Lena]

Aftonbladet has a flash graphic from the seating arrangements:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,573424,00.html

But since when has prince Carl "hottie" Philip grey hair?!

 

[GrandDuchess]

Princess Madeleine has cancelled!

Princess Madeleine has cancelled her attendance at both the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet today! A pres release from the Royal Court states that the Princess has a flu and fever. I really feel for the organisers who have puzzled with the table placing for a long time now, and when it’s finally finished (the Table of Honour is even already set) – this happens! She can’t help it, but it surely leaves a little something missing. I hope she will get better soon.

 

[Dennism]

That´s most unfortunate. I hope she will get better soon. That leaves 83 places at the table of honor. An odd number! But seriously, let´s hope her recovery happens quickly.

They have changed the table already:

http://nobelprize.org/nobel/nobel-foundation/press/2004/table-of-honor.html

I´m waiting for the headline from Expressobladet:

"Madeleine misses Nobel Ceremony; A nation is sad."

 

[GrandDuchess]

Article from Sweden.se

9 Dec 2004

Italian schoolboy's Nobel question leads to audience with Swedish King

Alessandro Pitruzzelli, a twelve-year old schoolboy from Italy, visited the Nobel Foundation's Centennial Exhibition in Florence and became so fascinated that he wrote a letter to H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden, asking how he could go about winning a Nobel Prize award himself.

The King took his request seriously and answered that he is merely the presenter of the prestigious award, but if Alessandro studied hard he might be a winner one day.

Pleased and flattered by the King’s letter and enclosed signed picture, Alessandro told his class, and together they wrote a new letter to the King, suggesting that a special prize be stipulated for people who have done something significant for the children of the world.

The host of Italy’s top children’s television programme, Lo zecchino d´oro, read the story in a newspaper and decided to stipulate such an award himself, complete with an all-child jury.

On the show’s season finale, Alessandro was surprised with airline tickets from Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), for him and his family to attend the Nobel Prize Award ceremony in Stockholm. The tickets were presented to Alessandro by the Swedish Ambassador to Italy, and hotel accommodations for the family are being supplied by the Swedish Travel and Tourism Council and Stockholm Visitors Board.

During their 5-day stay in the Swedish capital, Alessandro and his family will receive an audience with H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and attend the Nobel Prize Award ceremony. In addition they will, visit the Nobel Museum, experience a traditional Lucia celebration and wil take an extensive guided tour of the Royal Castle.

 

[GrandDuchess]

The little lucky boy from Italy met the King today! Alessandro Pitruzzello with his family received an audience with the King at the Royal Palace in Stockholm today. In the pictures is the Pitruzzello family: Alessandro, 12, little brother Mirco, 7, mother Alia Carmela and father Salvatore.

Pictures from the Royal Court's website (taken by Pressens Bild AB):

 

[Dennism]

Such happy photos. The family looks thrilled and the king is smiling as well!

 

[GrandDuchess]

According to Dagens Nyheter - the royal ladies will wear:

The Queen - a pearl embroidered light green tulle dress

Crown Princess Victoria - a pink satin dress

 

[Josefine]

for silvia it can´t be the dress she wore in denmark

 

[Alexandria]

9 Dec 2004

Italian schoolboy's Nobel question leads to audience with Swedish King

Alessandro Pitruzzelli, a twelve-year old schoolboy from Italy, visited the Nobel Foundation's Centennial Exhibition in Florence and became so fascinated that he wrote a letter to H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden, asking how he could go about winning a Nobel Prize award himself.

The King took his request seriously and answered that he is merely the presenter of the prestigious award, but if Alessandro studied hard he might be a winner one day.

What a lovely story about the King!

He may look like a grump or a curmudgeon sometimes, but stories like this one prove that he has a very kind heart and patience, particularly with kids.

I'm impressed (in a delightful way!) that he took the time to write back to this little boy.

 

[Dennism]

Perhaps. I mean the skirt is fine. Maybe she recycled the jacket and made a top out of it.

What a lovely story about the King!

He may look like a grump or a curmudgeon sometimes, but stories like this one prove that he has a very kind heart and patience, particularly with kids.

I'm impressed (in a delightful way!) that he took the time to write back to this little boy.

Well said. It´s nice to hear these things about royals!

 

[Josefine]

has everone found the live stream video or do anyone need help

 

[Britters]

I've gone to the link, but it only says the live stream is coming up? Am I in the right place?

 

[Josefine]

i my self like the dinner better becouse its like a teater they always have something new a theme one year it was about historic persons in sweden and they had actors performing a other year they had people climbing the brick walls with butiful music and light performance

 

[Dennism]

Yes. It should be coming along in a few minutes. They will have you pick, probably, between Real Player or WMP.