The History of the Abel Prize

The Abel Prize: The Missing Nobel in Mathematics?

“…Stubhaug often raised the question of whether the 200 year anniversary of Abel's birth could provide the perfect opportunity to revitalize plans for a prize in memory of Abel? He shared his thoughts with many Norwegian mathematicians, but even though several expressed interest in the history and the idea, the mathematical community generally felt that an Abel Prize was, in Stubhaug's words: ‘extremely unrealistic.’ (Stubhaug, , p. 5) Stubhaug's efforts to bring the idea of an Abel Prize back to life seemed to amount to nothing.…”

“…After listening to Stubhaug's story, the Telenor CEO promised Stubhaug that he would do everything he could to ensure that an Abel prize was realized. The relationship with the Swedes should not also end the plans for an Abel Prize, and the Telenor CEO promised Stubhaug that he would do everything he could to grab this new opportunity.The two separated with mutual assurances that they would promote the cause with renewed vigor, Hermansen through his political contacts and Stubhaug through the mathematicians at the University of Oslo (Stubhaug, , p. 5).…”

“…This desire is evident in the strength of the stories retold in the international mathematical community, about how Nobel allegedly decided not to establish a prize in mathematics because of quarrels over a woman with the Swedish mathematician Gosta Magnus Mittag‐Leffler. Even though this story has been proven false, the almost haunting issue of the ‘missing Nobel in mathematics’ has been kept very much alive (Ross, 1995; Stubhaug, , p. 17). This might explain why the Abel prize working group was soon able to present Norwegian politicians and state authorities with overwhelming support for the plans from the world's leading mathematical organization.…”

The Abel Prize 2013–2017

“…Stubhaug [Stu10] in the first book explains how the King's prize was a precursor of the Abel Prize that we know today. A much longer essay, "The Abel Prize-The missing Nobel in mathematics?"…”