Interesting numbers about the Nobel Prize

Who is the oldest and youngest Nobel laureate? How many women won Nobel prizes? Here are some answers based on Nobel Committee data.

According to the Nobel Committee, the oldest Nobel laureate is Professor Leonid Hurwicz, a Russian-American who won the Nobel Prize in 2007 at the age of 90 and died in June 2008.

Professor Leonid Hurwicz - (Photo: AFP)

Italian neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcin, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986 was the oldest Nobel laureate and still alive. She just celebrated her 103rd birthday on April 22, 2012.

Italian neurologist Rita Levi-Montalcin (103 years old) - (Photo: AFP)

In 2007, British author Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for Literature at the age of 87. Ms. Lessing said the Nobel Prize was 'a disaster' because she had no time to write a book.

Writer Doris Lessing - (Photo: AFP)

The youngest winner of the Nobel Prize is Lawrence Bragg (1890-1971), a British scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915, when he was 25 years old.

Since 1901, when the first Nobel Prize was announced, there have now been 44 women (Marie Curie twice) and 786 award-winning men.