Nobel Sperm Bank:
The 1956 winner of the Nobel Prize in Genetics, Williams Shockley, infamously predicted that the black population in the United States would become progressively less intelligent. He even proposed that people with IQ’s below 100 undergo sterilisation. In an effort to “spread humanity’s best genes” Shockley donated to a sperm bank and encouraged all other Nobel Prize winners to do the same. Though two others donated, Shockley was solo in his public acknowledgment.
Prize for making zombies
Egas Moniz won the 1949 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work in the development of the leucotomy (lobotomy) that gave “therapeutic value in certain psychosis”. Moniz became a polarising figure in the medical world for popularising the procedure without regard for medical ethics. Essentially the procedure included the use of a gun like instrument that was inserted through a hole in the skull and into the brain, cutting a core of brain tissue. About 5,000 lobotomies were performed in the US, and even Rosemary Kennedy, sister of US President John F. Kennedy, had the procedure done at the age of 23. Today, lobotomies are illegal in many countries.
Been there, done that
In 1923, Frederick Banting did not want to share the Nobel Prize for Medicine with John Macleod, saying that the latter only lent him time in his lab and supplied some materials. Both were credited with the discovery of insulin. Macleod, after finding out about Banting’s discovery, set about finding a new way to extract insulin with a team of his own. Both men split the prize money with other researchers on their respective teams. Years later, it was revealed that a Romanian professor, Nicolae Paulescu, had discovered insulin a year before the actual winners did.
Nobel pre-nuptial?
When Robert Lucas and his wife Rita divorced in 1988, a clause in their settlement entitled the couple to share the winnings of any Nobel Prize given within the next seven years. The clause was to expire on October 31, 1995, which is only two weeks after Lucas was announced as the winner of the prize in Economic Sciences for his theory of “rational expectations”. He ended up splitting the winnings, over $1million (B30 million), with his ex-wife.
Voluntary refusal
Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the prize for Literature in 1964, but he refused because he believed accepting the prize would associate him with the awarding institution. He similarly refused the Legion d’Honneur in 1945 and even wrote a letter to the Nobel committee to remove him from consideration. He wrote: “A writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form.” Just eight years later, Le Duc Tho would reject his 1973 Nobel Peace Prize he received along with Henry Kissinger for helping broker a cease fire in Vietnam. Peace had not been achieved by the Paris Peace Accords and so he believed he did not deserve the award.