A little wonder, every day

Fact 1648 — Bertha von Suttner and Selma Lagerlöf were the first women laureates in their categories

AI-generated cover image (created 2026-10-19), symbolically connecting peace activism and literature through a dove, blank medal ribbon and old book; no generated portraits of the real laureates. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial cover for the first women Nobel laureates in Peace and Literature: an antique open novel, a white dove motif on a blank medal ribbon, and two archival portrait frames turned away from camera on a 1900s writing desk, vertical 4:5. Symbolic generic objects, no readable text, no logos, no fabricated portraits.”

Portrait of peace activist and Nobel Peace laureate Bertha von Suttner, photographed in 1906 by Carl Pietzner. Source: Austrian National Library, Bildarchiv Austria. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bertha-von-Suttner-1906.jpg; public domain in the source country and U.S. as documented on file page. No edits.

AI-generated editorial reconstruction (created 2026-10-19) of an anonymous early 20th-century women's peace congress; not a documented photograph or depiction of von Suttner. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial reconstruction of an early 20th-century women's peace congress in Europe: anonymous women delegates seated around a wooden meeting table with papers, modest period clothing, a calm civic hall, vertical 4:5. Illustrative generic gathering, not a documented photograph or depiction of Bertha von Suttner, no slogans, flags, text or logos.”

Portrait of Selma Lagerlöf, dated 1909; image source NobelPrize.org. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Selma_Lagerl%C3%B6f.jpg. Underlying work and faithful photographic reproduction are marked public domain; file page notes possible jurisdiction-specific restrictions. No edits.

AI-generated editorial reconstruction (created 2026-10-19) of an anonymous writer at work in early 20th-century Sweden; not a portrait of Lagerlöf or a documented photograph. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial reconstruction of a woman writer's study in early 20th-century Sweden: anonymous author at a desk beside handwritten pages, bookshelves and a bright window looking onto a rural landscape, vertical 4:5. Evocative generic literary scene, not a portrait of Selma Lagerlöf or a documented photograph, no legible writing or logos.”

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AI-generated cover image (created 2026-10-19), symbolically connecting peace activism and literature through a dove, blank medal ribbon and old book; no generated portraits of the real laureates. Exact prompt: “Photorealistic editorial cover for the first women Nobel laureates in Peace and Literature: an antique open novel, a white dove motif on a blank medal ribbon, and two archival portrait frames turned away from camera on a 1900s writing desk, vertical 4:5. Symbolic generic objects, no readable text, no logos, no fabricated portraits.”

Listen to fact0:00 / —

As of 2025, women had received the Nobel Peace Prize 20 times and the Literature Prize 18 times, the highest counts among the categories. Bertha von Suttner was the first woman to receive the Peace Prize, in 1905. Selma Lagerlöf became the first woman Literature laureate in 1909. Emily Greene Balch was also a Peace laureate, but she received the prize in 1946, not first.