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JWR VerifiedFounding RecordJWR-2026-000130

First Jewish Woman to Win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

Record holder

Claudia GoldinPerson

Record value

10 December 2023

Country represented: United StatesAchievement location: Stockholm, SwedenAchievement date: 10 December 2023Current record

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Verified by Jewish World RecordsHow we verify records

Portrait of Nobel Prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin

Claudia Goldin in front of a bookshelf, 25 March 2019.Editing1088 / Wikimedia CommonsSourceCC BY-SA 4.0

Official record definition

The earliest Jewish woman personally named as a recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Shared prizes count; nominations, institutional-only recognition, other Nobel categories and ancestry-only cases without qualifying Jewish identity are excluded.

Measurement methodology

Official Nobel women-laureate chronology through 2023, combined with review of the Jewish identity of every earlier female Economic Sciences laureate.

Measurement point: Personal receipt of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

Record story

Claudia Goldin became the "First Jewish woman to receive the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences" upon her receipt of the award in Stockholm, Sweden, on 10 December 2023. As the sole recipient of the 2023 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, Goldin was recognised for having advanced the understanding of women’s labour-market outcomes. Her archival research reconstructed more than two centuries of women’s participation and earnings, showing how structural change, social expectations, and parenthood shaped the gender gap.

The prize had previously been awarded to two women, Elinor Ostrom in 2009 and Esther Duflo in 2019. However, neither laureate was Jewish at the time of their award. Ostrom had Jewish paternal ancestry but a Protestant upbringing, and Duflo described a Protestant family and parish upbringing, which establishes Goldin as the first Jewish woman to be named a recipient.

How JWR verified this record

Verification date
13 September 2026
Verification standard
JWR Verification Standard 1.0

Achievement evidence

NobelPrize.org confirms Claudia Goldin as the sole 2023 recipient of the Prize in Economic Sciences, for having advanced understanding of women’s labour-market outcomes.

Superiority evidence

The complete official female Economic Sciences chronology before 2023 consists of Elinor Ostrom (2009) and Esther Duflo (2019). Ostrom had Jewish paternal ancestry but a Protestant upbringing, and Duflo describes a Protestant family and parish upbringing; neither was Jewish at the time of the award. Jewish Women’s Archive explicitly identifies Goldin as the first Jewish woman to win the Economics Nobel.

Jewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Jewish eligibility verification

Evidence establishing that the holder qualifies as Jewish for JWR purposes.

  • Jewish Women’s Archive — Claudia Goldin FIRST — Jewish Women’s Archive
  • JTA — Claudia Goldin receives Economic Sciences Nobel — Jewish Telegraphic Agency
  • JWA — Elinor Ostrom background for earlier-laureate review — Jewish Women’s Archive
  • Le Monde — Esther Duflo family-background interview — Le Monde

Achievement / record verification

Evidence establishing that the holder achieved the result and holds the record as defined.

  • The Prize in Economic Sciences 2023 — Press release — Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences / NobelPrize.org

Superiority / counter-candidate verification

Evidence comparing the result with other candidates relevant to the record claim.

  • Nobel Prize awarded women — Nobel Prize Outreach / NobelPrize.org

Jewish eligibility, achievement and superiority evidence retain their separate classifications and are never merged. Context and provenance are not presented as proof of the achievement. Restricted evidence and internal research notes are never published. Learn more about the seven-stage process on the verification page.

Sources & Verification

History

  1. Verified

    Verified according to JWR Verification Standard 1.0.

  2. Publishedv1

    Published to the official JWR registry.

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