Explained

Can a prize be awarded after the winner has died?

Most major prizes are meant for living people, but many allow the award to stand if the winner dies after being chosen or announced. The exact rule differs from prize to prize.

• Since 1974 the Nobel statutes say a prize cannot be awarded posthumously unless death has occurred after the announcement. Before 1974 there were two posthumous awards, to Erik Axel Karlfeldt for literature in 1931 and to Dag Hammarskjöld for peace in 1961.¹
• Ralph Steinman died three days before the 2011 medicine prize was announced. The Nobel Foundation Board decided he remained a laureate because the Nobel Assembly had announced the prize without knowing of his death.¹
• Abel Prize nominees must be alive, but if a laureate dies after being declared the winner the prize is awarded posthumously, according to Wikipedia's summary of the rules.²
• The Pritzker Architecture Prize is described by its organisers as honouring living architects.³
• The Templeton Prize goes to a living person who, in the estimation of the judges, advances the founder's philanthropic vision.⁴

Sources

1. Nobel Prize Outreach, Nobel Prize facts (27 October 2026)
2. Wikipedia, Abel Prize (27 October 2026)
3. The Pritzker Architecture Prize, About the Prize (27 October 2026)
4. Wikipedia, Templeton Prize (27 October 2026)