The Nobel Prize in Peace
Alfred Bernhard Nobel spent almost all his life in dealing with explosives, bringing enormous wealth to him. However, his original intention of inventing explosives was to find their application in humane peaceful undertakings like railway construction, mining canalling, which can greatly benefit human beings. He was deeply worried, for his whole life, about the misuse of the explosives in wars. His acquaintance with Bertha Von Suttner, his private secretary an intelligent mature woman with strong pacificism tendency, is a manifestation of his love for peace. It was due to all these reasons that he established the Nobel Peace Prize in his will stated that the Peace Prize should be awarded by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting in Oslo. This is a reflection of Alfred Bernhard Nobel’s insight on future his cosmopolitism.
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The Nobel Peace Prize is investigated awarded by a committee of five persons who are elected by the Norwegian Storting. The procedures are similar to that of the Nobel Prizes in other fields. Until October 2014, there have been 103 individual persons 22 international organizations or institutions that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. For individuals, the laureates come from 39 ries regions the top three nationalities are USA, France Great Britain. There have been 16 female laureates, amounting up to 15.53% of all the Peace Prize laureates which is also the highest female laureates’ ratio in all Nobel Prizes. The youngest while being awarded the prize in 2014, Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan), as then 17 years old; the eldest while being awarded the prize in 1995, Joseph Rotblat (Pol), was then 87 years old. Among the Nobel Peace Prize laureates are not only the great politicians like Nelson Mela (South Africa, 1993 awarding), Kofi Annan (Ghana, 2001 awarding), even national chiefs presidents like Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat (Egypt President, 1978 awarding), Kim Dae-jung (ROK President, 2000), Barack Obama (US President, 2009 awarding), but also those people who have struggled hard for the human dignity rights like Desmond Mpilo Tutu (South Africa, 1984 awarding), Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma, 1991 awarding) people who devoted all his or her life to the religious charity career like Mother Teresa (Macedonia, 1979). |
The 22 organizational laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize are: Institute of International Law (1904 awarding), Permanent International Peace Bureau (1910 awarding), International Committee of the Red Cross (1917, 1944 1963 awarding), Nansen International Office for Refugees (1938 awarding), The Friends Service Council (1947 awarding), The American Friends Service Committee (1947 awarding), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1954 1981 awarding), International Committee of the Red Cross (1963 awarding), United Nations Children’s Fund (1965 awarding), International Labor Organization (1969 awarding), Amnesty International (1977 awarding), International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Inc. (1985 awarding), The United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces (1988 awarding), Pugwash Conferences on Science World Affairs (1995 awarding), International Campaign to Ban Lmines (1997 awarding) Medecins Sans Frontieres (1999 awarding), United Nations (2001 awarding), International Atomic Energy Agency (2005 awarding), Grameen Bank in Bangladesh (2006 awarding), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007 awarding), European Union (2012 awarding), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (2013 awarding).
The ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize awarding is comparatively simpler than those held in Stockholm for the Nobel Prizes in other fields. It is usually about 95 minutes for the whole ceremony, if there are two co-winners, the time will be exceeded. The laureate gives a 15-minute speech, the King the Queen of Norway, the famous leaders in the relevant circles, diplomats, other invited very important persons are arranged in the front seat. The Ceremony is presided by the President of the Nobel Committee for the Peace Prize. The President or other representative gives address in Norwegian. Then the Prize laureate is awarded the Nobel Prize Medal the Diploma. During the awarding the speeches, the orchestra performs celebrating music. The audience can use the earphone to different languages to listen to the laureate’s speech. The ceremony usually ended at the early evening, leaving enough time for people to watch live broadcasting of the ceremony in Stockholm.
At the late evening, some local social organizations will group a torch pageant, going to the hotel where the laureate stays the laureate accept their cheers by the window. Then Norway Nobel Committee hold formal banquet at the hotel where the laureate stays, the dance ball follows, This ceremony has become one of the social events in the winter in Oslo.
Before 1990, the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony was held in the Oslo University Auditorium in which the inside wall is entirely decorated by Munk Mural. Since 1990, the awarding ceremony moved to Oslo City Hall. In 1978, for the sake of security, the awarding ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize for Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, was held in a garrison.
Because of the influence of politics, ideology, culture value views, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize often arouse ambiguities which in turn result in dissension. In addition, such situation often lead to a higher ratio of he absence of many laureates at the ceremony than that in other Nobel Prizes, such as Henry Kissinger (USA, 1973 awarding), Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (former USSR, 1975 awarding), Mohamed Anwar el Sadat (Egypt, 1978 awarding), Lech Walesa (Pol, 1983 awarding), Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma, 1991 awarding). In 1973, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Le Duc Tho (Vietnam) declined the prize.
