The Nobel Foundation was created in 1900 as a private institution to administer Alfred Nobel’s estate and award the Prizes for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. It represents all the Nobel institutions and administers information activities and events connected with the Prizes.
 
When Alfred Nobel died in 1896 he specified in his Will which institutions should award the prizes in his name. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the prizes for physics and chemistry, the Karolinska Institute for medicine, the Swedish Academy for literature, and the Norwegian Parliament appoints a five-person committee to award the prize for peace.
In 1968, the Swedish central bank established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economics in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was given the task of awarding the economics prize in 1969.
The Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. The committee’s membership reflects the number of seats held by the various political parties. The Norwegian Nobel Institute was created in 1904 to assist the committee in its efforts to decide who should receive the Peace Prize.