From the laboratory to the library to the peace table, women Nobel Prize winners have changed how we understand atoms, genes, the universe, literature and human rights. Their achievements are remarkable, and so is their rarity. According to the official NobelPrize.org list of Nobel Prize-awarded women, the Nobel Prize and the prize in economic sciences were awarded to women 70 times between 1901 and 2026, and because Marie Curie was honoured twice, that means 69 individual women.
Below we profile 15 women Nobel Prize winners across every category, from Marie Curie’s two historic prizes to the laureates announced in October 2026. Every year and category has been checked against NobelPrize.org, the official source run by the Nobel Prize organization.
Women Nobel Prize Winners at a Glance
- Total: 70 prizes awarded to women from 1901 to 2026, shared by 69 women.
- First woman laureate: Marie Curie, Physics, 1903.
- Only woman to win twice: Marie Curie, Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911.
- First woman in Literature: Selma Lagerlöf, 1909.
- First woman Peace laureate: Bertha von Suttner, 1905.
- First woman in Physiology or Medicine: Gerty Cori, 1947.
- First woman in Economic Sciences: Elinor Ostrom, 2009.
- Youngest laureate ever: Malala Yousafzai, Peace, 2014, at age 17.
- Newest women laureates: Anne Carson (Literature 2026) and Navi Pillay (Peace 2026).
15 Women Nobel Prize Winners Who Changed the World
This is a selection rather than a complete list. We chose women Nobel Prize winners from all six categories and from different eras to show how the story has unfolded over more than a century.
1. Marie Curie: Physics 1903 and Chemistry 1911
Marie Curie is the first name most people think of when they hear about women Nobel Prize winners, and with good reason. In 1903 she shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel for research on radiation. In 1911 she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alone, for the discovery of the elements radium and polonium. She remains the only woman to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes and the only person honoured in two different scientific fields. You can read more in her Britannica biography.
2. Bertha von Suttner: Peace 1905
The Austrian writer Bertha von Suttner became the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Her 1889 anti-war novel Lay Down Your Arms made her a leading voice of the international peace movement, and she corresponded with Alfred Nobel himself. The committee honoured her “audacity to oppose the horrors of war.”
3. Selma Lagerlöf: Literature 1909
Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf was the first woman awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. She is loved for The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, the story of a boy who travels across Sweden on the back of a goose, as well as novels such as Gösta Berling’s Saga.
4. Irène Joliot-Curie: Chemistry 1935
Marie Curie’s daughter Irène shared the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband Frédéric Joliot for the synthesis of new radioactive elements. That makes the Curies the family with the most Nobel Prizes, and Irène one of the few women Nobel Prize winners whose parent was also a laureate.
5. Gerty Cori: Physiology or Medicine 1947
Biochemist Gerty Cori became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She shared it with her husband Carl Cori, for their discovery of how the body converts glycogen, and with Bernardo Houssay. Their work is fundamental to understanding metabolism and diabetes.
6. Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin: Chemistry 1964
British chemist Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin won the Chemistry prize alone for determining the structures of important biochemical substances with X-ray techniques, including penicillin and vitamin B12. She later also solved the structure of insulin.
7. Mother Teresa: Peace 1979
Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize “for her work for bringing help to suffering humanity.” She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India, which grew into a worldwide congregation caring for the poor, the sick and the dying.
8. Barbara McClintock: Physiology or Medicine 1983
Geneticist Barbara McClintock was awarded the prize alone for her discovery of mobile genetic elements, often called “jumping genes.” She made her key observations in maize decades earlier, and recognition came long after the work itself.
9. Toni Morrison: Literature 1993
American novelist Toni Morrison, author of Beloved, Song of Solomon and The Bluest Eye, was the first Black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy praised novels “characterized by visionary force and poetic import.” If you love her work, see our guide to classic books by women authors.
10. Wangari Maathai: Peace 2004
Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, which has organized the planting of millions of trees. She was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, honoured for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
11. Elinor Ostrom: Economic Sciences 2009
American political economist Elinor Ostrom was the first woman to receive the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Her research showed how communities can successfully manage shared resources such as fisheries, forests and pastures.
12. Malala Yousafzai: Peace 2014
Malala Yousafzai shared the 2014 Peace Prize with Kailash Satyarthi for their struggle for the right of all children to education. At 17, she is the youngest Nobel laureate in history, and one of the most recognized women Nobel Prize winners of her generation.
13. Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna: Chemistry 2020
French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier and American biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna shared the 2020 Chemistry prize for the development of a method for genome editing, the CRISPR/Cas9 “genetic scissors.” It was the first time a science prize was shared only by women, and the tool is now used in laboratories around the world.
14. Claudia Goldin: Economic Sciences 2023
Harvard economist Claudia Goldin was honoured “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes.” She was the third woman to receive the economics prize and the first woman to receive it alone. Her research traces how women’s work and pay have changed over two centuries.
15. Anne Carson and Navi Pillay: The 2026 Laureates
The newest names on the list of women Nobel Prize winners were announced in October 2026. Canadian poet, essayist and classicist Anne Carson received the Nobel Prize in Literature 2026 for an oeuvre that, in the Swedish Academy’s words, is in “playful dialogue with the classical tradition.” The Nobel Peace Prize 2026 was awarded to Navi Pillay, the South African jurist and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
How We Chose These Laureates
We picked these women Nobel Prize winners to represent every category (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economic Sciences) and every era from 1903 to 2026. We prioritized historic firsts and laureates whose work is widely taught. All years, categories and prize citations were verified on NobelPrize.org, in line with our editorial policy. Leaving someone out is not a judgment on their importance; there are many more inspiring women Nobel Prize winners to discover.
Women Nobel Prize Winners by Category
The numbers reveal both progress and how much ground there still is to cover. Here is a quick overview based on the official list.
Physics
Only five women have won the physics prize: Marie Curie (1903), Maria Goeppert Mayer (1963), Donna Strickland (2018), Andrea Ghez (2020) and Anne L’Huillier (2023). Three of those five prizes came in just six years, a sign that the field is slowly changing.
Chemistry
Chemistry has eight awards to women: Marie Curie (1911), Irène Joliot-Curie (1935), Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1964), Ada Yonath (2009), Frances Arnold (2018), Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna (2020) and Carolyn Bertozzi (2022).
Physiology or Medicine
Women Nobel Prize winners in medicine include Gerty Cori, Rosalyn Yalow, Barbara McClintock, Rita Levi-Montalcini, Gertrude Elion, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Linda Buck, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, May-Britt Moser, Tu Youyou, Katalin Karikó and, most recently, Mary E. Brunkow in 2025.
Literature
Among women Nobel Prize winners, writers form one of the largest groups. Literature has one of the longest lists, from Selma Lagerlöf, Grazia Deledda, Sigrid Undset, Pearl Buck and Gabriela Mistral to Nadine Gordimer, Wisława Szymborska, Doris Lessing, Alice Munro, Svetlana Alexievich, Olga Tokarczuk, Louise Glück, Annie Ernaux, Han Kang (2024) and Anne Carson (2026).
Peace
The Peace Prize has been awarded to women more often than any science prize. The list includes Jane Addams, Emily Greene Balch, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, Alva Myrdal, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman, Nadia Murad, Maria Ressa, Narges Mohammadi, María Corina Machado (2025) and Navi Pillay (2026).
Economic Sciences
Only three women have received the economics prize: Elinor Ostrom (2009), Esther Duflo (2019) and Claudia Goldin (2023).
Why So Few Women Nobel Prize Winners?
With roughly a thousand laureates in total since 1901, 69 women is a small share. Historians usually point to several factors: for decades women were excluded from universities, laboratories and academies; nominations depend on networks that were long dominated by men; and Nobel Prizes often reward work done decades earlier, so today’s growing number of women researchers takes time to show up in the statistics. The recent wave of women Nobel Prize winners in the sciences, especially since 2018, suggests the gap is beginning to narrow. Many female Nobel laureates have also used their platform to mentor the next generation, so the list of women Nobel Prize winners is likely to keep growing.
How to Learn More About These Laureates
- Read the official biographies and prize lectures on NobelPrize.org, many of which are free to watch.
- Pick up a book by a literature laureate, from Selma Lagerlöf to Han Kang.
- Visit museums such as the Musée Curie in Paris or the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm.
- Share these stories with students around International Women’s Day on March 8.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?
Marie Curie was the first, sharing the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. She won a second prize, in Chemistry, in 1911.
How many women have won the Nobel Prize?
According to NobelPrize.org, the prizes were awarded to women 70 times between 1901 and 2026, to 69 different women.
Has any woman won two Nobel Prizes?
Yes, only one: Marie Curie, for Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911.
Who are the most recent women Nobel Prize winners?
In 2026, Anne Carson received the Nobel Prize in Literature and Navi Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2025, Mary E. Brunkow shared the prize in Physiology or Medicine and María Corina Machado received the Peace Prize.
Final Thoughts
The story of women Nobel Prize winners runs from Marie Curie’s makeshift laboratory to genome editing and the newest names of 2026. Each of these laureates broke ground in her field, often against long odds, and together they make a powerful case for opening every door to talent. For more stories of women who shaped history, read our feature on women’s suffrage history and explore our International Women’s Day history guide.
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