In continuation of our first blog page on Nobel Prize winners on banknotes. This latest part features more modern banknotes. Read along to learn about their achievements and see the banknotes they are featured on.

Gabriela Mistral – 1945 Nobel laureate in Literature 

Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, more well-known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral, is a Chilean poet, diplomat, educator, and also humanist. In addition, she is the first South American author to win a Nobel Prize. Her poems are characterized by strong emotion and direct language. Gabriela Mistral won the Nobel Prize for “her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world”.

Gabriela Mistral – Nobel Prize Winner | Source: Wikipedia

The 5,000 Chilean peso note honors Gabriela Mistral. Her portrait is featured on the obverse side of the note. A picture of a woman with children is also shown on the obverse side while an allegorical couple is shown on the reverse side. The picture of a mother and the couple are nods to some of Mistral’s poems that center on love and motherhood. The note also has a watermark of Mistral.

Chile 5,000 Pesos | 2008 | Source: Banknote World

Gabriel Garcia Marquez – 1982 Nobel laureate in Literature 

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a Colombian novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and also journalist. He is also known as Gabo or Gabito in Latin America. Marquez is also very well-known for his novels, including One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, and for popularizing magical realism. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982 for “his novels and short stories, in which fantastic and realistic are combined in a richly composed world of imagination, reflecting a continent’s life and conflicts”. 

Colombian Author Gabriel García Márquez | Source: Wikipedia

The 50,000 Colombian peso note introduced by the Bank of the Republic of Colombia in 2015 honors Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A close-up portrait and full-body portrait are both present on the obverse side. There is a butterfly motif in the note, in addition to a nod to his signature butterfly motif in his stories. The note also has a watermark of Marquez.  

Colombia 50,000 Pesos Banknote | 2019 | Source: Banknote World

Shmuel Yosef Agnon – 1966 Nobel laureate in Literature 

Shmuel Yosef Agnon, also known as Shai Agnon and S. Y. Agnon, is an Israeli fiction writer. He is one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. His works deal with the conflict between traditional Jewish life and the modern world, recapture the traditions of the European shtetl, and also broaden the narrator’s role in literature. He shared the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature with Nelly Sachs. He is a recipient of the reward due to “ his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of the Jewish people.”

Nobel Prize Winner – Shmuel Yosef Agnon | Source: Wikipedia

The 50 new sheqalim banknotes issued from 1998 to 2007 Nobel honored Shmuel Agnon. His portrait and also a library are on the obverse side. Meanwhile, his writing stand is on the reverse side.

Israel 50 New Sheqalim | 1998 | Source: Banknote World Educational

Conclusion of Nobel Prize Winners on Banknotes

What do you think of these banknotes featuring Nobel Prize winners? Who do you think should also be on banknotes?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *