There have been only five scientists who have won two Nobel Prizes – Polish-French physicist and chemist Marie Curie (1903, 1911), American scientist Linus Pauling (1954, 1962), American physicist and electrical engineer John Bardeen (1956, 1972), British biochemist Frederick Sanger (1958, 1980), and American stereochemist Barry Sharpless (2001, 2022). Additionally, there have been two organisations – the International Committee of the Red Cross (1917, 1944, 1963) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (1954, 1981) – that have won multiple Nobel Peace Prizes.
On top of being part of such an elite group, Pauling has done something that makes this feat extra special. For he is the only person ever to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes! In a lifetime spent as a chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962.
Born in Portland, Oregon, on February 28, 1901, Pauling had science running through him right from the start. For he was the son of a pharmacist, Henry Pauling, and Lucy Pauling, a daughter of a pharmacist.
