Albert Einstein (1879-1955), co-winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics, wrote this statement about his own schooling, in an autobiographical essay he wrote for the introductory material of a book about his role as a philosopher of science: ". . . I worked most of the time in the physical laboratory [at the Polytechnic Institute of Zürich], fascinated by the direct contact with experience. The balance of the time I…
I fact he was the sole-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1921
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/
Yes. Awarded a year later, which may be the detail I was remembering.