The festival
day of the Nobel Foundation is on
the 10th of December, the anniversary
of the death of the testator. The
Prize Award Ceremony for the Nobel
Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology
or Medicine and Literature as well
as for the Bank of Sweden Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred
Nobel - takes place at the Stockholm
Concert Hall. At this event, His Majesty
the King of Sweden, hands each Laureate
a diploma, a medal and a document
confirming the Prize amount, which
in 1999 will total SEK 7.9 million
(about USD 1 million) per full Prize.The
Nobel Peace Prize is presented on
the same day at the Oslo City Hall
by the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel
Committee in the presence of the King
of Norway.
The prize-awarding bodies decide the
design of the diplomas. The Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible
for the Physics and Chemistry diplomas,
and since 1969 also for the Economic
Sciences diploma. The Nobel Assembly
at Karolinska Institutet is responsible
for the Physiology or Medicine diploma,
the Swedish Academy for the Literature
diploma and the Norwegian Nobel Committee
for the diploma presented to the winners
of the Peace Prize. Nowadays, the
"Swedish" diplomas have
a uniform binding, provided by the
bookbindery Fälth & Hässler
(earlier Hässlers Bokbinderi).
This was not the case initially, since
the various prize committees decided
the artistic design of the diplomas
based on their own wishes and resources.
The Refsum bookbinding firm was responsible
for binding the "Norwegian"
diplomas until 1986, when the bookbinding
firm of Kjell-Roger Josefson took
over.
The artistic design of the diplomas
has varied over the years (see Register
of artists), but the text has always
followed the same pattern in the
Swedish and Norwegian languages,
respectively. The "Swedish"
diplomas largely carry the same
text, stating the person or persons
to whom the prize-awarding body
has decided to present the year’s
Prize plus a citation explaining
why. The Norwegian diploma, on the
other hand, has never included a
Prize citation.
