title: [On the Awarding of the First Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine to Emil von Behring].
abstract: In his will of 1895, the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel laid the foundation for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace to those who had "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" during the last year. The Nobel Prize is today widely considered as the most prestigious international symbol of scientific excellence, but it still is an exciting research question how it gained such prestige. Drawing on files from the Emil von Behring Archive in Marburg, Germany, and the Archive of the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine in Stockholm this essay aims at shedding light on why the first Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1901 was awarded the German immunologist Emil von Behring, and how this decision was viewed at that time. This study is part of a research project that explores mechanisms leading to scientific recognition by using the example of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin, Universitätsklinikum Köln.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.affiliation: Emil-von-Behring-Bibliothek, Arbeitsstelle für Geschichte der Medizin.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Enke
mesh_terms: D005858:Germany; D006666:History of Medicine; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009613:Nobel Prize; D010827:Physiology / Q000266:history*