People & Abilities

The Youngest Nobel Prize Winners in History

Malala Yousafzai was 17 when she won the 2014 Peace Prize, the youngest laureate ever; Nadia Murad (2018) and Lawrence Bragg (1915) were both 25, as of November 2026. This ranks individual laureates by age on the day their prize was announced. For the countries behind the medals see Most Nobel Prizes by Country.

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Thumbnail of Malala Yousafzai’s 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture

Pictured: Malala Yousafzai, #1 at 17 years, in the thumbnail of her Nobel Peace Prize Lecture.

Rank Laureate Age at award (years) Age in days Prize Year Country Born Prize motivation (summary)
1Malala Yousafzai176,299Peace2014Pakistan1997For her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education
2Nadia Murad259,340Peace2018Iraq1993For efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict (shared with Denis Mukwege)
2Lawrence Bragg259,356Physics1915United Kingdom1890For services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays (shared with his father, William Henry Bragg)
4Tsung-Dao Lee3011,299Physics1957China1926For work on the parity laws in weak interactions (shared with Chen Ning Yang)
5Carl Anderson3111,393Physics1936United States1905For the discovery of the positron (shared with Victor Hess)
5Paul Dirac3111,416Physics1933United Kingdom1902For the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory (shared with Erwin Schrödinger)
5Werner Heisenberg3111,662Physics1932Germany1901For the creation of quantum mechanics
5Frederick Banting3111,667Physiology or Medicine1923Canada1891For the discovery of insulin (shared with John Macleod)
9Tawakkol Karman3211,930Peace2011Yemen1979For the non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work (shared with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee)
9Rudolf Mössbauer3211,963Physics1961Germany1929For research on the resonance absorption of gamma radiation and the discovery of the effect that bears his name (shared with Robert Hofstadter)
11Joshua Lederberg3312,213Physiology or Medicine1958United States1925For discoveries concerning genetic recombination in bacteria (shared with George Beadle and Edward Tatum)
11Mairead Corrigan3312,310Peace1976United Kingdom1944For founding a peace movement to end violence in Northern Ireland (shared with Betty Williams)
11Rigoberta Menchú3312,334Peace1992Guatemala1959For her work for social justice and reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples
11Brian Josephson3312,346Physics1973United Kingdom1940For theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier (shared with Leo Esaki and Ivar Giaever)
15Donald Glaser3412,462Physics1960United States1926For the invention of the bubble chamber
15Betty Williams3412,560Peace1976United Kingdom1943For founding a peace movement to end violence in Northern Ireland (shared with Mairead Corrigan)
15James Watson3412,613Physiology or Medicine1962United States1928For discoveries on the molecular structure of nucleic acids (shared with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins)
18Chen Ning Yang3512,823Physics1957China1922For work on the parity laws in weak interactions (shared with Tsung-Dao Lee)
18Arthur Compton3512,843Physics1927United States1892For the discovery of the effect named after him (shared with C.T.R. Wilson)
18Guglielmo Marconi3512,981Physics1909Italy1874For contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy (shared with Karl Ferdinand Braun)
18Frédéric Joliot-Curie3513,023Chemistry1935France1900For the synthesis of new radioactive elements (shared with Irène Joliot-Curie)
18Martin Luther King Jr.3513,056Peace1964United States1929For combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance

Age is in completed years on the day the prize was announced, as of November 2026. It is worked out from the birth date and award date of every laureate in the Nobel Foundation’s public laureate data (all 1,000-plus people and organisations), so the list is complete through age 35: nobody else was under 36 on announcement day.[1] A laureate whose recorded birth date lacks a month and day is at least 39 and cannot affect the list. NobelPrize.org and some other lists count age at the December ceremony instead, which gives Lee 31 and Banting 32.[12] Age in days is exact. Rules: only individual people are counted, so organisations are excluded; each person appears once; laureates of the same age in years share a rank and are listed by age in days. Year is the year the prize is named for: the 1932 Physics Prize (Heisenberg) and the 1976 Peace Prize (Corrigan and Williams) were announced a year later. Country is the laureate’s at the time (China means the Republic of China for Lee and Yang). Born is the birth year. For a count by country, see Most Nobel Prizes by Country.

The Top 10

#1

Malala Yousafzai — 17 years

Born on 12 July 1997, Malala Yousafzai was 17 when the 2014 Peace Prize was announced on 10 October 2014, the youngest laureate in any category.[1][2] The Nobel Committee cited her struggle for the right of all children to education; she shared the prize with Kailash Satyarthi. The video is her Nobel Lecture.

#2

Nadia Murad — 25 years

Nadia Murad was 25 when the 2018 Peace Prize was announced on 5 October 2018, shared with Denis Mukwege for efforts to end sexual violence as a weapon of war.[1][3] Wikipedia gives her birth date as 10 March 1993, taken from her own social media, so she is placed by completed years only. The video is her Nobel Lecture.

#2

Lawrence Bragg — 25 years

Born on 31 March 1890, Lawrence Bragg was 25 when he shared the 1915 Physics Prize with his father, William Henry Bragg, for analysing crystal structure with X-rays.[1][4] NobelPrize.org lists him as the youngest Physics laureate to date. The video covers the father-and-son work.

#4

Tsung-Dao Lee — 30 years

Born on 24 November 1926, Tsung-Dao Lee was 30 when the 1957 Physics Prize, shared with Chen Ning Yang, was announced on 31 October 1957, and turned 31 before the December ceremony.[5] That is why some lists give 31: this table counts age on announcement day. The video summarises his Nobel Lecture on parity in weak interactions.

#5

Carl Anderson — 31 years

Born on 3 September 1905, Carl Anderson shared the 1936 Physics Prize with Victor Hess for discovering the positron, the first antimatter particle seen in a cloud chamber.[7] The video is an excerpt from an oral history held by the Niels Bohr Library & Archives.

#5

Paul Dirac — 31 years

Born on 8 August 1902, Paul Dirac shared the 1933 Physics Prize with Erwin Schrödinger for new productive forms of atomic theory.[6] His equation for the electron also predicted antimatter. The video is a documentary on his life, not a Nobel recording.

#5

Werner Heisenberg — 31 years

Born on 5 December 1901, Werner Heisenberg received the Physics Prize for 1932 for the creation of quantum mechanics.[8] The prize was announced in November 1933 after being held over, so he was 31 at the time. The video is a short note on that prize.

#5

Frederick Banting — 31 years

Born on 14 November 1891, Frederick Banting shared the 1923 Medicine Prize with John Macleod for the discovery of insulin.[9] The Karolinska Institute's citation is dated 25 October 1923, and he turned 32 the following month. He remains the youngest laureate in Physiology or Medicine. The video tells the discovery story.

#9

Tawakkol Karman — 32 years

Born on 7 February 1979, Tawakkol Karman was 32 when the 2011 Peace Prize was announced on 7 October 2011.[10] She shared it with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and women's rights in peace-building. The video is her ceremony speech.

#9

Rudolf Mössbauer — 32 years

Born on 31 January 1929, Rudolf Mössbauer shared the 1961 Physics Prize with Robert Hofstadter for the effect that bears his name, recoil-free absorption of gamma rays.[11] No verified official video was available, so an icon is shown.

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Sources

  1. Nobel Foundation, NobelPrize.org API v2.1, laureates (birth dates, award dates and prize motivations for every laureate, accessed November 2026), and the Nobel Prize facts pages (Malala Yousafzai as youngest laureate at 17; Lawrence Bragg as youngest Physics laureate at 25) — api.nobelprize.org, nobelprize.org.
  2. Wikipedia, “Malala Yousafzai” (birth date, announcement 10 October 2014) — en.wikipedia.org.
  3. Wikipedia, “Nadia Murad” — en.wikipedia.org.
  4. Wikipedia, “Lawrence Bragg” — en.wikipedia.org.
  5. Wikipedia, “Tsung-Dao Lee” and “Yang Chen-Ning” — en.wikipedia.org.
  6. Wikipedia, “Paul Dirac” — en.wikipedia.org.
  7. Wikipedia, “Carl David Anderson” — en.wikipedia.org.
  8. Wikipedia, “Werner Heisenberg” (prize for 1932 announced November 1933) — en.wikipedia.org.
  9. Wikipedia, “Frederick Banting” (Karolinska Institute citation dated 25 October 1923) — en.wikipedia.org.
  10. Wikipedia, “Tawakkol Karman” — en.wikipedia.org.
  11. Wikipedia, “Rudolf Mössbauer” — en.wikipedia.org.
  12. Famous Scientists, “The 11 youngest Nobel Prize winners (scientists)” (cross-check of ages; its convention differs) — famousscientists.org. Birth dates for the other rows are from each laureate’s Wikipedia biography.
  13. YouTube: Nobel Prize and other channels as titled in each entry.