This article says it's an artifact of cold war politics https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/opinion/sunday/how-math-got-its-nobel-.html https://www.nytimes.com/2

This article says it's an artifact of cold war politics https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/opinion/sunday/how-math-got-its-nobel-.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/opinion/sunday/how-math-g... I'm not personally familiar with the history, this just turned up when I googled the nytimes for "fields medal" and "nobel prize", but that query also turns up articles from 1986 and 1977. On the other hand, if it's still part of the public imagination, it does seem more likely that its from Good Will Hunting and not the cold war.