We started out by publishing Decline Of Nobel Culture: From Theodore Roosevelt To Al Gore…To Tesco & Non-existent Drowning Polar Bears, which brought a response from Sweden, which we entitled Pundit’s Mailbag — Letter From Sweden About Nobel Prize ‘Sarcasm’
When we published that letter, we thought it interesting that our discussion of the relative merits of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Theodore Roosevelt and Al Gore should bring a response from a Swede. This is what we actually wrote:
Being that the Nobel Prize is awarded by the Nobel Foundation in Sweden each year, it seems somehow fitting that our piece, Decline Of Nobel Culture: From Theodore Roosevelt To Al Gore..To Tesco & Non-existent Drowning Polar Bears, should draw objection from a Pundit reader in Stockholm…
Strictly speaking, it is not correct to say that the Nobel Foundation “awards” the prizes and our Swedish correspondent wrote us back to remind us of this fact:
Just wanted to send a closing remark with regard to the Pundit piece entitled, Pundit’s Mailbag — Letter From Sweden About Nobel Prize ‘Sarcasm’.
For sake of good order, it ought to be noted that the Peace Prize is not awarded by the Swedish Nobel Foundation. You can see the way the Foundation explains the matter here:
The Nobel Prize Awarders
Who selects the Nobel Laureates? In his last will and testament, Alfred Nobel specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry, Karolinska Institute for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and a Committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1968, the Sveriges Riksbank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was given the task to select the Economics Prize Laureates starting in 1969.
— Åke Lewander
Group Networking Manager
LCL World Wide Group
Stockholm, Sweden
Many thanks to Åke for keeping us on our toes. We should have said that the Nobel Foundation funds the award.
If you are visiting Oslo, you can also visit the Nobel Peace Center. Going to Stockholm? Visit The Nobel Museum. You can learn more about Alfred Nobel here.
Just remember that none of this would have been possible without dynamite.
