* Jean-Paul Sartre: The French philosopher and writer declined the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964. He stated that he did not want to be "institutionalized" and that he believed accepting the prize would be "a kind of social promotion" he did not want.
* Le Duc Tho: The Vietnamese diplomat declined the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, which he shared with Henry Kissinger, for his role in the Paris Peace Accords that ended the Vietnam War. He declined the award, arguing that peace in Vietnam had not been achieved.
There have been a few others who have declined the Nobel Prize, but Sartre and Le Duc Tho are the most well-known.