List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates facts for kids

The Norwegian Nobel Institute helps choose the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize is a famous award given each year to a person or group who has done the most to create friendship between countries, reduce armies, or hold meetings to promote peace. The prize was created by the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor. It is chosen by a group of five people from the Norwegian Nobel Committee, who are selected by the Parliament of Norway.

Winners get a medal, a diploma, and a cash prize. This is one of five prizes that Alfred Nobel created in his will in 1895. The other Nobel Prizes are for amazing work in chemistry, physics, literature, and medicine.

All About the Prize

The Peace Prize is given out every year in Oslo, Norway, on December 10th. This date is the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. The King of Norway attends the ceremony. It's the only Nobel Prize not given out in Stockholm, Sweden. Sometimes, the prize goes to an organization instead of a person. For example, the International Committee of the Red Cross has won three times!

The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901. It was shared by Frédéric Passy and Henry Dunant. The most recent winner in 2024 was Nihon Hidankyo.

Fun Facts

• Linus Pauling is the only person to win two Nobel Prizes all by himself. He won the Peace Prize in 1962 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954.
• The youngest winner ever is Malala Yousafzai. She was only 17 when she won in 2014.
• Bertha von Suttner was the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, back in 1905. Since then, 19 women have won this important award.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross has won the prize more than any other group. They have won three times for their work helping people in need.
• Five winners were being held by their governments when they won the prize: Carl von Ossietzky (1935), Aung San Suu Kyi (1991), Liu Xiaobo (2010), Ales Bialiatski (2022), and Narges Mohammadi (2023). They won for fighting for freedom and human rights.

Who Has Won the Prize?

As of 2024^[update], the Peace Prize has been given to 111 people and 28 organizations. Nineteen of the winners have been women, which is more than any other Nobel Prize. Two winners have received the prize more than once: the International Committee of the Red Cross (three times) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (twice). In 19 different years, no prize was given out.

Year	Laureate (birth/death)		Country	Reason for Winning
1901		Henry Dunant (1828–1910)	Switzerland	"for his work helping wounded soldiers and creating international understanding."
		Frédéric Passy (1822–1912)	France	"for a lifetime of work on international peace conferences and talks."
1902		Élie Ducommun (1833–1906)	Switzerland	"for his skilled leadership of the Bern Peace Bureau."
		Charles Albert Gobat (1843–1914)		"for his practical management of the Inter-Parliamentary Union."
1903		William Randal Cremer (1828–1908)	United Kingdom	"for his long and dedicated work for peace and settling disagreements calmly."
1904		Institute of International Law (founded 1873)	Belgium	"for working to create peaceful ties between nations and make the laws of war more humane."
1905		Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914)	Austria-Hungary	"for her bravery in speaking out against the horrors of war."
1906		Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)	United States	"for helping to end the bloody war between Japan and Russia."
1907		Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (1833–1918)	Italy	"for his work in the press and peace meetings to create understanding between France and Italy."
		Louis Renault (1843–1918)	France	"for his key influence on the Hague and Geneva peace conferences."
1908		Klas Pontus Arnoldson (1844–1916)	Sweden	"for their long work for peace as politicians, leaders, speakers, and writers."
		Fredrik Bajer (1837–1922)	Denmark
1909		Auguste Beernaert (1829–1912)	Belgium	"for their important roles in the international movement for peace."
		Paul Henri d'Estournelles de Constant (1852–1924)	France
1910		Permanent International Peace Bureau (founded 1891)	Switzerland	"for connecting peace groups in different countries and helping them organize."
1911		Tobias Asser (1838–1913)	Netherlands	"for helping start groups and meetings that used law to build peace between countries."
		Alfred Fried (1864–1921)	Austria-Hungary	"for his effort to fight what he saw as the main cause of war: chaos in international relations."
1912		Elihu Root (1845–1937)	United States	"for improving understanding between North and South American countries."
1913		Henri La Fontaine (1854–1943)	Belgium	"for his amazing work in organizing peaceful internationalism."
1914	Not awarded due to World War I.
1915
1916
1917		International Committee of the Red Cross (founded 1863)	Switzerland	"for its efforts to care for wounded soldiers, prisoners of war, and their families."
1918	Not awarded due to World War I.
1919		Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)	United States	"for his role as the founder of the League of Nations."
1920		Léon Bourgeois (1851–1925)	France	"for his long work for peace and justice and for helping create the League of Nations."
1921		Hjalmar Branting (1860–1925)	Sweden	"for their lifelong work for peace and organized internationalism."
		Christian Lange (1869–1938)	Norway
1922		Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930)	Norway	"for his leading role in returning prisoners of war, in international relief work, and as the League of Nations' High Commissioner for refugees."
1923	Not awarded
1924
1925		Sir Austen Chamberlain (1863–1937)	United Kingdom	"for his key role in making the Locarno Treaty happen."
		Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951)	United States	"for his key role in creating the Dawes Plan."
1926		Aristide Briand (1862–1932)	France	"for their key roles in making the Locarno Treaty happen."
		Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929)	Germany
1927		Ferdinand Buisson (1841–1932)	France	"for helping create public support in France and Germany for peaceful international cooperation."
		Ludwig Quidde (1858–1941)	Germany
1928	Not awarded
1929		Frank Billings Kellogg (1856–1937)	United States	"for his key role in creating the Kellogg-Briand Pact."
1930		Nathan Söderblom (1866–1931)	Sweden	"for bringing Christian groups together to help create a new mindset for peace between nations."
1931		Jane Addams (1860–1935)	United States	"for their hard work to bring back the ideal of peace in their nation and the world."
		Nicholas Murray Butler (1862–1947)	United States
1932	Not awarded
1933		Sir Norman Angell (1872–1967)	United Kingdom	"for his book The Great Illusion, which argued for international cooperation and peace."
1934		Arthur Henderson (1863–1935)	United Kingdom	"for his tireless and courageous work as Chairman of the League of Nations Disarmament Conference."
1935		Carl von Ossietzky (1889–1938)	Germany	"for his passionate love for freedom of thought and his valuable work for peace."
1936		Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1878–1959)	Argentina	"for creating the Argentine Antiwar Pact of 1933 and using it to bring peace between Paraguay and Bolivia."
1937		The Viscount Cecil of Chelwood (1864–1958)	United Kingdom	"for his tireless support of the League of Nations, disarmament, and peace."
1938		Nansen International Office for Refugees (1930–1939)	League of Nations	"for continuing the work of Fridtjof Nansen to help refugees across Europe."
1939	Not awarded due to World War II.
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944		International Committee of the Red Cross (founded 1863)	Switzerland	"for the great work it performed during World War II to help humanity."
1945		Cordell Hull (1871–1955)	United States	"for his tireless work for international understanding and his key role in starting the United Nations."
1946		Emily Greene Balch (1867–1961)	United States	"for her lifelong work for the cause of peace."
		John Raleigh Mott (1865–1955)	United States	"for helping to create a peace-promoting religious brotherhood across nations."
1947		The Quakers (represented by Friends Service Council and American Friends Service Committee) (started during the mid-17th century)	United States & United Kingdom	"for their early work in the peace movement and for helping to ease suffering, which brings nations closer."
1948	Not awarded because "there was no suitable living candidate." (A tribute to the recently assassinated Mohandas Gandhi in India.)
1949		Lord Boyd-Orr (1880–1971)	United Kingdom	"for his lifelong effort to end hunger, which helped remove a major cause of war."
1950		Ralph Bunche (1904–1971)	United States	"for his work as a peace negotiator in Palestine in 1948-1949."
1951		Léon Jouhaux (1879–1954)	France	"for dedicating his life to fighting war by promoting social justice and friendship among people and nations."
1952		Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965)	France	"for his selflessness, reverence for life, and tireless humanitarian work."
1953		George Catlett Marshall Jr. (1880–1959)	United States	"for creating and overseeing the Marshall Plan to help Europe's economy recover after the war."
1954		Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (founded 1950)	United Nations	"for its efforts to heal the wounds of war by helping and protecting refugees all over the world."
1955	Not awarded
1956
1957		Lester Bowles Pearson (1897–1972)	Canada	"for his key role in sending a United Nations Emergency Force to calm the Suez Crisis."
1958		Dominique Pire (1910–1969)	Belgium	"for his efforts to help refugees leave camps and return to a life of freedom and dignity."
1959		Philip Noel-Baker (1889–1982)	United Kingdom	"for his lifelong work for disarmament and peace."
1960		Albert Lutuli (1898–1967)	South Africa	"for his non-violent struggle against apartheid."
1961		Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961)	Sweden	"for making the UN a strong and helpful organization that could achieve the goals of the UN Charter."
1962		Linus Pauling (1901–1994)	United States	"for his fight against the nuclear arms race between the East and West."
1963		International Committee of the Red Cross (founded 1863)	Switzerland	"for promoting the rules of the Geneva Convention and working with the UN."
		League of Red Cross Societies (founded 1919)
1964		Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)	United States	"for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the African-American population."
1965		United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (founded 1946)	United Nations	"for its work to improve friendship between nations and shrink the gap between rich and poor countries."
1966	Not awarded
1967
1968		René Cassin (1887–1976)	France	"for his struggle to protect the rights of man as written in the UN Declaration."
1969		International Labour Organization (founded 1919)	United Nations	"for creating international laws that set standards for working conditions in every country."
1970		Norman Ernest Borlaug (1914–2009)	United States	"for his work on the Green Revolution, which gave hope for ending hunger."
1971		Willy Brandt (1913–1992)	West Germany	"for opening up a meaningful conversation between East and West."
1972	Not awarded
1973		Henry Kissinger (1923–2023)	United States	"for working together to negotiate a ceasefire in Vietnam in 1973."
		Lê Đức Thọ (1911–1990)	North Vietnam
1974		Seán MacBride (1904–1988)	Ireland	"for his efforts to protect and expand human rights around the world."
		Eisaku Satō (1901–1975)	Japan	"for helping to create stability in the Pacific region and for signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."
1975		Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989)	Soviet Union	"for his fight for human rights, disarmament, and cooperation between all nations in the Soviet Union."
1976		Betty Williams (1943–2020)	United Kingdom	"for their brave efforts in starting a movement to end the violent conflict in Northern Ireland."
		Mairead Corrigan (born 1944)
1977		Amnesty International (founded 1961)	United Kingdom	"for promoting worldwide respect for human rights."
1978		Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat (1918–1981)	Egypt	"for working together to negotiate the peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978."
		Menachem Begin (1913–1992)	Israel
1979		Mother Teresa (1910–1997)	India (Born in the Ottoman Empire)	"for her work in bringing help to suffering people."
1980		Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (born 1931)	Argentina	"for being a source of inspiration to oppressed people, especially in Latin America."
1981		Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (founded 1950)	United Nations	"for promoting the basic rights of refugees."
1982		Alva Myrdal (1902–1986)	Sweden	"for their work for disarmament and creating nuclear-weapon-free zones."
		Alfonso García Robles (1911–1991)	Mexico
1983		Lech Wałęsa (born 1943)	Poland	"for his non-violent fight for free trade unions and human rights in Poland."
1984		Desmond Tutu (1931–2021)	South Africa	"for his role as a unifying leader in the non-violent campaign to end apartheid in South Africa."
1985		International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (founded 1980)	United States	"for teaching the world about the terrible dangers of nuclear war."
1986		Elie Wiesel (1928–2016)	United States (born in Romania)	"for being a messenger to humanity with a message of peace, healing, and dignity."
1987		Óscar Arias (born 1940)	Costa Rica	"for his work to create lasting peace in Central America."
1988		United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces (founded 1945)	United Nations	"for preventing armed fights and creating conditions for peace talks."
1989		Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935)	India (Born in Tibet)	"for supporting peaceful solutions based on tolerance and respect to protect his people's history and culture."
1990		Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022)	Soviet Union	"for the leading role he played in the major changes in East-West relations."
1991		Aung San Suu Kyi (born 1945)	Myanmar	"for her non-violent fight for democracy and human rights."
1992		Rigoberta Menchú (born 1959)	Guatemala	"for fighting for social justice and healing cultural divides by respecting the rights of native peoples."
1993		Nelson Mandela (1918–2013)	South Africa	"for their work to peacefully end the apartheid system and build a new democratic South Africa."
		Frederik Willem de Klerk (1936–2021)	South Africa
1994		Yasser Arafat (1929–2004)	Palestine	"for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East."
		Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995)	Israel
		Shimon Peres (1923–2016)	Israel
1995		Joseph Rotblat (1908–2005)	Poland	"for their efforts to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in world politics and to eventually get rid of them."
		Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs	Canada
1996		Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo (born 1948)	East Timor	"for their work towards a fair and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor."
		José Ramos-Horta (born 1949)	East Timor
1997		International Campaign to Ban Landmines (founded 1992)	Switzerland	"for their work to ban and clear landmines."
		Jody Williams (born 1950)	United States
1998		John Hume (1937–2020)	Ireland	"for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland."
		David Trimble (1944–2022)	United Kingdom
1999		Médecins Sans Frontières	Switzerland	"in recognition of the organization's groundbreaking humanitarian work on several continents."
2000		Kim Dae-jung (1924–2009)	South Korea	"for his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and East Asia, and for making peace with North Korea."
2001		United Nations	United Nations	"for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world."
		Kofi Annan (1938–2018)	Ghana
2002		Jimmy Carter (1924–2024)	United States	"for his decades of tireless effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts and to advance democracy and human rights."
2003		Shirin Ebadi (born 1947)	Iran	"for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children."
2004		Wangari Muta Maathai (1940–2011)	Kenya	"for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace."
2005		International Atomic Energy Agency (founded 1957)	United Nations	"for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure it is used safely for peaceful purposes."
		Mohamed ElBaradei (born 1942)	Egypt
2006		Muhammad Yunus (born 1940)	Bangladesh	"for their efforts to create social and economic development from the ground up."
		Grameen Bank (founded 1983)	Bangladesh
2007		Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (founded 1988)	United Nations	"for their work to spread knowledge about man-made climate change and to encourage action to fight it."
		Al Gore (born 1948)	United States
2008		Martti Ahtisaari (1937–2023)	Finland	"for his important efforts over three decades to solve international conflicts on several continents."
2009		Barack Obama (born 1961)	United States	"for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
2010		Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017)	China	"for his long and non-violent struggle for basic human rights in China."
2011		Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 1938)	Liberia	"for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to be fully included in peace-building work."
		Leymah Gbowee (born 1972)
		Tawakkul Karman (born 1979)	Yemen
2012		European Union (founded 1958)	European Union	"for over sixty years of helping advance peace, democracy, and human rights in Europe."
2013		Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (founded 1997)	Netherlands	"for its major efforts to get rid of chemical weapons."
2014		Kailash Satyarthi (born 1954)	India	"for their fight against the mistreatment of children and young people, and for the right of all children to an education."
		Malala Yousafzai (born 1997)	Pakistan
2015		Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (2013–2014)	Tunisia	"for helping build a democracy in Tunisia after the Jasmine Revolution of 2011."
2016		Juan Manuel Santos (born 1951)	Colombia	"for his determined efforts to end his country's civil war, which lasted more than 50 years."
2017		International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (founded 2007)	Switzerland	"for its work to show the terrible human cost of using nuclear weapons and for its amazing efforts to create a treaty to ban them."
2018		Denis Mukwege (born 1955)	Democratic Republic of the Congo	"for their efforts to end the use of ... violence as a weapon of war."
		Nadia Murad (born 1993)	Iraq
2019		Abiy Ahmed (born 1976)	Ethiopia	"for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, especially for his key move to solve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea."
2020		World Food Programme (founded 1961)	United Nations	"for its efforts to fight hunger, for helping to improve conditions for peace in war-torn areas, and for trying to stop hunger from being used as a weapon of war."
2021		Maria Ressa (born 1963)	Philippines	"for their efforts to protect freedom of expression, which is necessary for democracy and lasting peace."
		Dmitry Muratov (born 1961)	Russia
2022		Ales Bialiatski (born 1962)	Belarus	"For representing citizens in their home countries who fight for the right to criticize leaders and protect people's rights. They have done amazing work recording war crimes and abuses of power, showing how important citizen groups are for peace and democracy."
		Memorial (founded 1989)	Russia
		Centre for Civil Liberties (founded 2007)	Ukraine
2023		Narges Mohammadi (born 1972)	Iran	"for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all."
2024		Nihon Hidankyo (founded 1956)	Japan	"for its work to create a world without nuclear weapons and for sharing survivor stories to show that these weapons must never be used again."

Winners by Category

Winners by Country

Country	Winners
United States	23
United Kingdom	12
Switzerland	11
United Nations /  League of Nations	10
France	9
Sweden	5
Belgium	4
Germany /  West Germany	4
South Africa	4
Russia /  Soviet Union	4
Israel	3
India	3
Austria-Hungary	2
Norway	2
Netherlands	2
Argentina	2
Canada	2
Ireland	2
Egypt	2
Poland	2
East Timor	2
Iran	2
Bangladesh	2
Liberia	2
Japan	2
Italy	1
Denmark	1
North Vietnam	1
Palestine	1
Mexico	1
Costa Rica	1
Myanmar	1
Guatemala	1
South Korea	1
Ghana	1
Kenya	1
Finland	1
China	1
Yemen	1
European Union	1
Pakistan	1
Tunisia	1
Colombia	1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	1
Iraq	1
Ethiopia	1
Philippines	1
Belarus	1
Ukraine	1
Romania	1
Ottoman Empire	1
Tibet	1

See also

• List of Nobel laureates
• List of peace activists
• List of organizations nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
• List of individuals nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
• PRIO Director's Shortlist