The2004 Nobel Prizes were awarded by theNobel Foundation, based inSweden. Six categories were awarded:Physics,Chemistry,Physiology or Medicine,Literature,Peace, andEconomic Sciences.[1]
Nobel Week took place from December 6 to 12, including programming such as lectures, dialogues, and discussions. The award ceremony and banquet for the Peace Prize were scheduled inOslo on December 10, while the award ceremony and banquet for all other categories were scheduled for the same day inStockholm.[2][3]
| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | David Gross (b. 1941) |  American | "for the discovery ofasymptotic freedom in the theory of thestrong interaction" | [4] |
 | Hugh David Politzer (b. 1949) | |||
 | Frank Wilczek (b. 1951) | |||
| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Aaron Ciechanover (b. 1947) |  Israeli | "for the discovery ofubiquitin-mediated protein degradation" | [5] |
 | Avram Hershko (b. 1937) | |||
 | Irwin Rose (1926–2015) | American | ||
| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Richard Axel (b. 1946) | United States | "for their discoveries ofodorant receptors and the organization of theolfactory system" | [6] |
.jpg) | Linda B. Buck (b. 1947) | |||
| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Elfriede Jelinek (b. 1946) |  Austria | "for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society's clichés and their subjugating power" | [7] |
| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Wangari Muta Maathai (1940–2011) |  Kenya | "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace." | [8] |
| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Finn E. Kydland (b. 1943) |  Norway | "for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behindbusiness cycles" | [9] |
 | Edward C. Prescott (1940–2022) | United States | ||
Maathai was criticized for her past comments—reported by the Kenyan newspaperThe Standard andRadio Free Europe—stating thatHIV/AIDS was developed by western scientists and unleashed upon Africa. Maathai denied having stated them, thoughThe Standard stood by its reporting, and Maathai later hinted in aTime interview that she believed HIV had a non-natural origin, saying that someone knows where it came from and that it "did not come from monkeys".[10][11]
Shortly before the2005 Nobel Prizes,Nobel Foundation memberKnut Ahnlund resigned and stated publicly that Jelinek's awarding of the2004 Nobel Prize in Literature "caused irreparable harm to the value for the foreseeable future" due to Jelinek's "whingeing, unenjoyable, and violent pornography" in her work. Academy headHorace Engdahl later stated that Ahnlund's activity in the academy during and prior to the decision of Jilenek's awarding was minimal and that he thus hadn't been a part of prize deliberations whatsoever.[12]