The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901 as follows .
Physics Prize - Wilhelm Röntgen for discovery of X-rays
Chemistry Prize - Jacobus van't Hoff for his contributions in chemical thermodynamics
Litterature - Sully Prudhomme
Physiology or Medicine Prize - German physiologist and microbiologist Emil von Behring for research on antitoxin to treat diphtheria.