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History of the Nobel Peace Prize
It has long been rumored that
Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the peace prize that
bears his name because he felt guilty for making money from the
manufacture of weapons. In fact, the Nobel fortune came from chemical
inventions and the peaceful uses of explosives, such as engineering
projects, railways, canals, and road building. The idea for the Nobel
Peace Prize actually emerged in Paris in the 1880s, where the Swedish
industrialist met the Baroness Bertha von Suttner, a well-known supporter
of international peace efforts. Von Suttner nurtured Nobel's interests in
world peace and suggested he fund an annual prize for peace work.
The first Nobel Peace Prize was
awarded in 1901, five years afterNobel's death. It went to two men: Henri
Dunant of Switzerland, oneof the founders of the International Committee
of the Red Cross; and Frédéric Passy of France, the organizer of several
international peace groups and a supporter of peaceful arbitration between
governments. The most recent prize, awarded in 1998, was given to John
Hume and David Trimble for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to
the long conflict in Northern Ireland.
One prize winner had a close
connection to Swarthmore College. In 1931, Jane Addams, the legendary
founder of Hull House, became the first woman in the United States to win
the Nobel Peace Prize--the same year that Swarthmore College awarded her
an honorary degree. Addams had a long acquaintanceship with the College,
having been invited to speak in 1918, when her popularity was at an
all-time low because of her opposition to World War I. In 1930, Lucy
Biddle Lewis, a member of the Board of Managers, convinced Addams to
donate her personal and professional papers to Swarthmore. These formed
the core of an archive on the peace movement around the world, first known
as the Jane Addams Peace Collection and now as the Swarthmore College
Peace Collection. Ann Keene doesn't mention Addams' connection with
Swarthmore in her book on Nobel Peace Prize winners, but it is filled with
other inspiring stories.
Wonderful illustrations are
included with each entry. In addition to portraits of the prize winners,
there are many pictures illustrating the kinds of work they did, such as
the relief work in France after World War II performed by the American
Friends Service Committee and the Friends Service Council, two
organizations that shared the prize in 1947.
A glance at the appendix on the
"Century of Peace Prize Winners" reveals that most prize winners have been
North Americans and Europeans. Not until 1936 did a South American receive
the honor; it was another 14 years before the prize went to an African and
an additional 13 years before the first winner from an Asian country. More
than half of the winners in the last 20 years have come from Asia, Africa,
the Middle East, and Latin America. The Norwegian Nobel Committee that
selects the winners is finally looking beyond the United States and
Western Europe to honor those working for peace and a better world. Books
such as this one will help spread the word.
provided by Wendy Chmielewski, Curator
Swarthmore College Peace Collection
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