Nobel Prize award ceremony takes place in Stockholm
Stockholm
The Nobel Prize award ceremony on Dec. 10 took place at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, while the Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and economic sciences were awarded to the laureates.
During the opening address, Professor Astrid Söderbergh Widding, the chair of the Board of the Nobel Foundation, said, “The message of Alfred Nobel, transmitted to us through his will, is equally clear. He believed in the unique powers of science, literature and actions for peace to help transform the world to the benefit of humankind. And for all of this, international collaboration and respect for knowledge are key.”
Norwegian author Jon Fosse received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his innovative plays and prose, giving voice to the unspoken in a diverse body of work that spans genres, including plays, novels, poetry, essays, children's books, and translations.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2023 was jointly awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their pioneering work in mRNA technology, instrumental in COVID-19 vaccine development.
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognized the work of Moungi G Bawendi, Louis E Brus, and Alexei Ekimov for their discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023 was bestowed upon Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne L’Huillier for their groundbreaking experimental techniques generating attosecond pulses of light, enabling profound studies of electron dynamics in matter, especially in atoms and molecules.
This year's Nobel in Economic Sciences, officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize, was awarded to Harvard professor Claudia Goldin.
On the same day, the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony were held in Oslo City Hall.
The ceremony contained artistic performances and the speech of Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was represented by her children, seventeen-year-old Ali and Kiana Rahmani.
Mohammadi, who has campaigned against the compulsory wearing of the hijab and the death penalty in Iran, has been held since 2021 in Tehran's Evin prison.
Instead, her 17-year-old twins Ali and Kiana, both living in exile in France since 2015, received the award on her behalf, reading a speech she managed to smuggle out of her cell.
"I am a Middle Eastern woman, and come from a region which, despite its rich civilization, is now trapped amid war, the fire of terrorism, and extremism," she said in a message that was written "behind the high, cold walls of a prison.”
"The Iranian people will dismantle obstruction and despotism through their persistence," Mohammadi said in her speech.
"Have no doubt - this is certain," she said.
Mohammadi has been arrested and convicted several times in recent decades, and her twin children have not seen their mother for almost nine years.
"Personally I'm rather pessimistic," Kiana Mohammadi told reporters on Saturday, while his brother Ali said he remained "very, very optimistic.”
The "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement seeks the end of Iran's imposition of a headscarf on all women and an end to the Muslim cleric-led government in Tehran.
"I am an Iranian woman, a proud and honorable contributor to civilization, who is currently under the oppression of a despotic religious government," she said.
A chair was left symbolically empty at the ceremony, where a portrait of Mohammadi was displayed.
Mohammadi is one of the women spearheading the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising, which saw months-long protests across Iran triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
"The mandatory hijab imposed by the government is neither a religious obligation or a cultural tradition, but rather a means of maintaining authority and submission throughout society," Mohammadi said in the speech read before the Norwegian royal family and foreign dignitaries.
She said Iran "is fundamentally alienating itself from its people", denouncing government repression, the lack of an independent judicial system, propaganda and censorship, and corruption.
Mohammadi is currently carrying out a hunger strike in solidarity with the Baha'i community, according to her family.