What can we do?

Notable among the rest of us, many people make a difference. The Nobel Committee honors them annually by selecting one or more with the most promising achievements upon whom to bestow an award. You can find many of their web sites or accomplishments listed here. For a comprehensive review see: Noble Peace Laureates.

1950: Bunche, Ralph, USA, 1904-1971.Professor at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., Director of the UN Division of Trusteeship, mediator in Palestine in 1948.

1951: Jouhaux, Lon, France, 1879-1954. President of the trade union CGT-Force ouvrire, President of the International Committee of the European Council, Vice President of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Vice President of the World Federation of Trade Unions, member of the ILO Council, delegate to the UN.

1952: Reserved.

1953: The prize for 1952: Schweitzer, Albert, France, 1875-1965. (Born in Kaysersberg, Alsace, then part of Germany.) Physician and missionary, founder of the Lambarene Hospital in Gabon.

1953: Marshall, George Catlett, USA, 1880-1959. General, President of the American Red Cross, former Secretary of State and of Defense, delegate to the UN, originator of the Marshall Plan.

1954: Reserved.

1955: The prize for 1954: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva. An international aid organization established by the UN in 1951.

1955: Reserved.

1956: One-third of the prize money for 1955 was transferred to the Main Fund, and two-thirds to the Nobel Institute's Special Fund.

1956: Reserved.

1957: One-third of the prize money for 1956 was transferred to the Main Fund, and two-thirds to the Nobel Institute's Special Fund.

1957: Pearson, Lester Bowles, Canada, 1897-1972. Former Foreign Minister, President of the UN General Assembly 1952.

1958: Pire, Georges, Belgium, 1910-1969. Dominican, head of the aid organization for refugees L'Europe du coeur au service du monde.

1959: Noel-Baker, Philip John, Great Britain, 1889-1982. Member of Parliament. Campaigner for international cooperation and peace.

1960: Reserved.

1961: The prize for 1960: Lutuli, Albert John, South Africa, 1898-1967. (Born in Southern Rhodesia.) President of the South African liberation movement the African National Congress.

1961: Hammarskjld, Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl, Sweden, 1905-1961 (awarded the Prize posthumously). UN Secretary-General.

1962: Reserved.

1963: The prize for 1962: Pauling, Linus Carl, USA, 1901-1994. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. Campaigner especially for an end to nuclear weapons tests.

1963: The prize was divided equally between: The International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva. Founded in 1863; and The League of Red Cross Societies, Geneva.

1964: King, Martin Luther, Jr., USA, 1929-1968. Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, campaigner for civil rights. Martin Luther King

1965: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, established by the UN in 1946. An international aid organization.

1966: Reserved.

1967: One-third of the prize money for 1966 was transferred to the Main Fund, and two-thirds to the Nobel Institute's Special Fund.

1967: Reserved.

1968: One-third of the prize money for 1967 was transferred to the Main Fund, and two-thirds to the Nobel Institute's Special Fund.

1968: Cassin, Ren, France, 1887-1976. President of the European Court of Human Rights.

1969: The International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva.

1970: Borlaug, Norman Ernest, USA, 1914-. Led research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico City.

1971: Brandt, Willy, West Germany, 1913-1992. Former Chancellor, initiator of West Germany's Ostpolitik, embodying a new attitude towards Eastern Europe and East Germany.

1972: Reserved.

1973: The prize money for 1972 was transferred to the Main Fund.

1973: The prize was divided equally between: Kissinger, Henry A., USA, 1923-. Former Secretary of State; and Le Duc Tho, North Vietnam, 1910-1990. (Declined the prize.) Jointly negotiated the Vietnam peace accord in 1973.

1974: The prize was divided equally between: MacBride, Sen, Ireland, 1904-1988. President of the International Peace Bureau, Geneva. UN Commissioner for Namibia; and Sato, Eisaku, Japan, 1901-1975.
Former Prime Minister.

1975: Sakharov, Andrei, the Soviet Union, 1921-1989. Campaigner for human rights.

1976: Reserved.

1977: The prize for 1976 was divided equally between: Williams, Betty, Northern Ireland, 1943-. Co-founder of the Peace People; and Corrigan, Mairead, Northern Ireland, 1944-. Co-founder of the Peace People.

1977: Amnesty International, London. A worldwide organization for the protection of the rights of prisoners of conscience.

1978: The prize was divided equally between: Al-Sadat, Mohammad Anwar, Egypt, 1918-1981. President of Egypt; and Begin, Menachem, Israel, 1913-1992. Prime Minister. Jointly negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel.

1979: Mother Teresa, India, 1914-1997. Leader of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity.

1980: Prez Esquivel, Adolfo, Argentina, 1931-. Architect, campaigner for human rights.

1981: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva.

1982: The prize was divided equally between: Myrdal, Alva, Sweden, 1902-1986. Former Minister, diplomat and delegate to UN disarmament conferences; and Garca Robles, Alfonso, Mexico, 1911-1991. Diplomat and campaigner for disarmament.

1983: Walesa, Lech, Poland, 1943-. Founder of Solidarity, campaigner for human rights.

1984: Tutu, Desmond Mpilo, South Africa, 1931-. Bishop, former Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches.

1985: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Boston.

1986: Wiesel, Elie, USA, 1928-. Author, humanitarian.

1987: Arias Snchez, Oscar, Costa Rica, 1941-. President of Costa Rica, initiator of peace negotiations in Central America.

1988: The United Nations Peace-keeping Forces.

1989: The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso , Tibet, 1935-. Religious and political leader of the Tibetan people.

1990: Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeyevich, the Soviet Union, 1931-. President of the Soviet Union, helped to bring the Cold War to an end.

1991: Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma, 1945-. Opposition leader, Human Rights Advocate.

1992: Mench Tum, Rigoberta, Guatemala, 1959-. Campaigner for human rights, especially for indigenous peoples.

1993: The prize was divided equally between: Mandela, Nelson, South Africa, 1918-. Leader of the ANC. and de Klerk, Frederik Willem , South Africa, 1936-. President of the Republic of South Africa.

1994: The prize was divided equally between: Arafat, Yasser, Palestine, 1929-. Chairman of the PLO; and Peres, Shimon, Israel, 1923-. Foreign minister of Israel; and Rabin, Yitzhak, Israel, 1922-1995. Prime minister of Israel. Awarded for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.

1995: The prize was divided equally between: Rotblat, Joseph, England, 1908-. and Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs , 1957-. For their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics.

1996: The prize was divided equally between: Belo, Carlos Filipe Ximenes, 1948-;
and Ramos-Horta, Jos, East Timor, 1949-. For their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.

1997: The prize was divided equally between: International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), and Jody Williams, USA, 1950-.

1998: The prize was divided equally between: John Hume, Northern Ireland, 1937-. and David Trimble, Northern Ireland, 1944- For their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

1999: Doctors Without Borders (Mdecins Sans Frontires) In recognition of the organisation's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents.

2000: Kim Dae Jung , Republic of Korea, 1925-. For his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular.

2001: The prize was divided equally between: The United Nations (U.N.) and its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, Ghana, 1938 - For their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.

2002: Jimmy Carter , USA, 1924-. For his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. The Carter Center

2003: Shirin Ebadi, Iran, 1947-. For her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially the rights of women and children, in Iran and the Muslim world in general.

2004: Wangari Maathai, Kenya, 1940- For her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. Green Belt Movement

2005: Mohamed ElBaradei, 1942- & the International Atomic Energy Agency For their efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons.

2006: The prize was divided equally between Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh, 1940-, and the Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below through the means of micro-credits.

Posted by RoadToPeace on Thursday, August 25, 2005.

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