Who was the only person to receive two Nobel Prizes without having to share it with anyone else?

The correct answer is Marie Curie.

Key Points

• Marie Curie is the only person to receive two Nobel Prizes without sharing either
• Won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel)
• Won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (sole recipient)
• First woman to win a Nobel Prize
• Only person to win Nobels in two different scientific fields

Additional Information

• Linus Pauling:
  • Won 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (sole recipient)
  • Won 1962 Nobel Peace Prize (sole recipient)
  • Only person to win two unshared Nobels in different fields
  • His Peace Prize was for nuclear disarmament activism
  • Considered one of greatest chemists of 20th century
• Amartya Sen:
  • Won 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (sole recipient)
  • Known for work on welfare economics and development
  • Has not won a second Nobel Prize
  • Indian economist and philosopher
  • Made significant contributions to famine theory
• John Bardeen:
  • Won 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with two others)
  • Won 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics (shared with two others)
  • Only physicist to win two Nobel Prizes
  • Co-inventor of transistor and BCS theory of superconductivity
  • Both prizes were shared with collaborators