List of black Nobel laureates - Wikipedia List of black Nobel laureates This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. ( June 2017 ) The Nobel Prize is an annual, international prize first awarded in 1901 for achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. An associated prize in Economics has been awarded since 1969. Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 881 individuals, of whom 15 -- 1.7 % - were black recipients. Blacks have received awards in three of six award categories : eleven in Peace, three in Literature, and one in Economics. The first black recipient, American Ralph Bunche, was awarded the Peace Prize in 1950. The most recent as of 2017, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee, were awarded their Peace Prizes in 2011. Two black laureates - Barack Obama and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -- were presidents of their countries when they were awarded the prize. As of 2015, fifteen Nobel Prize laureates have been black. Contents 1 Laureates 2 See also 3 References 4 External links Laureates Year Image Laureate Country 1950 Bunche, Ralph Ralph Bunche United States Peace First black person to win a Nobel Prize 1960 Luthuli, Albert John Albert John Luthuli South Africa Peace First black African to win a Nobel Prize 1964 King, Jr, Martin Luther Martin Luther King, Jr United States Peace Youngest African American to win a Nobel Prize 1978 Sadat, Anwar El Anwar El Sadat Egypt Peace 1979 Lewis, W. Arthur W. Arthur Lewis Saint Lucia Economics First and ( so far ) only black person to win a Nobel Prize other than Peace or Literature ; first West Indian to win a Nobel Prize 1984 Tutu, Desmond Desmond Tutu South Africa Peace 1986 Soyinka, Wole Wole Soyinka Nigeria Literature First black person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature Walcott, Derek Derek Walcott Saint Lucia Literature 1993 Morrison, Toni Toni Morrison United States Literature First black woman to win a Nobel Prize 1993 Mandela, Nelson Nelson Mandela South Africa Peace Annan, Kofi Kofi Annan Ghana Peace Maathai, Wangari Wangari Maathai Kenya Peace First black African woman to win a Nobel Prize and first and only environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 Obama, Barack Barack Obama United States Peace 2011 Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Liberia Peace 2011 Gbowee, Leymah Leymah Gbowee Liberia Peace See also List of Nobel laureates List of African - American firsts List of Christian Nobel laureates List of Muslim Nobel laureates List of Jewish Nobel laureates References Jump up ^ `` Nobel Prize '' ( 2007 ), in Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed 14 November 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online : An additional award, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden and was first awarded in 1969 Jump up ^ `` All Nobel Laureates ''. Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 01. Jump up ^ Ralph Bunche, PBS. Jump up ^ `` Unsung Heroes ''. Time. 2007 - 12 - 01. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Wole Soyinka Biography ''. Nobelprize.org. Jump up ^ http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/poetry/walcott_derek.html#bio/biblio Jump up ^ Grimes, William ( 1983 - 10 - 08 ). `` Toni Morrison Is ' 93 Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature ''. New York Times. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 08. External links Nelson Mandela Interview Nobel Prizes Lists of Nobel laureates Prizes Chemistry Economics Literature Peace Physics Physiology or Medicine Laureates by subject Chemistry Economics Literature Peace Physics Physiology or Medicine by criterion African Arab Asian Black Female Latino and Hispanic Jewish by country Argentine Australian Belgian Bengali Chinese Danish Hungarian Indian Israeli Italian Japanese Korean Liberian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Swedish Turkish Welsh by religion Christian Jewish Muslim Non-religious by year By year by university affiliation University affiliation by occupation Head of Government and State Committees and organisations Nobel Foundation Nobel Committees Chemistry Economics Physics Physiology or Medicine Norwegian Nobel Committee Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute Related topics Controversies Other prizes Alfred Nobel Nobel Memorial Prize ( not one of the original Nobel Prizes ). This United Nations - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_black_Nobel_laureates&oldid=841451048 '' Categories : Lists of Nobel laureates Lists of black people Nobel laureates by ethnicity United Nations stubs Hidden categories : Articles that may contain original research from June 2017 All articles that may contain original research Articles with hCards All stub articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia پنجابی اردو Tiếng Việt Yorùbá Edit links This page was last edited on 15 May 2018, at 22 : 48. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: first african american to win a nobel peace prize
Answer: Ralph Bunche