The Nobel Prizes, Another Battle

Abstract

Mittag-Leffler seems not to have participated in the internal discussions that were carried out regarding to what extent the Academy of Sciences should take on the task of awarding the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry. He was not on the committees that were handling this matter – which was only natural since he was neither a physicist nor a chemist. And when the recommendations for the final statutes for these two Nobel Prizes were approved by the Academy of Sciences on June 11, 1898, he had no objections. As a mathematician, Mittag-Leffler could not be part of the Nobel committees that were appointed – one for the physics prize and another for the prize in chemistry. These committees, each of which had five members, obtained expert opinions that were then discussed, eventually leading to a recommendation as to who should receive the prize. This recommendation was then presented to the physics and chemistry divisions, respectively, and subsequently to the entire academy, which, after more or less intense discussion, made the final decision. Mittag-Leffler took an active part in the plenary sessions and, like all academy members, he was invited to propose possible candidates. Every year he requested copies of the documents compiled by the physics and chemistry committees. These documents included summaries regarding submitted candidates, expert opinions, and all other materials that the committee had wanted in order to do its work. Mittag-Leffler made his own views known and exerted influence on friends and supporters who were members of the Nobel committees. He had particularly good contacts on the physics committee, and it was the physics prize that interested him most.