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The Non-Award of the Nobel Prize of 1921 to Carlos Chagas: A Tragic Mistake

Reinaldo B Bestetti

Carlos Chagas discovered the disease, which has been named after him (Chagas disease), in 1909. He was indicated to the Nobel Prize in 1912 and in 1921, but never won the Nobel Prize. The non-award of the prize in 1921 strengthened Chagas detractors in Brazil to the point that the disease fallen into oblivion after Chagas’ death in 1934. The socioeconomic importance of this new disease was only recognized many years later, what made that many lives were unnecessarily lost. A posthumous Nobel Prize to Chagas could help to eradicate the disease.