Washington: The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes created by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature.
Since 1901, the award has been annually given (with some exceptions) to those who have worked the best of their fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
On Monday, Pope Francis along with Edward Snowden and a priest helping African migrants were nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2015.
Pope Francis has been nominated for spreading social justice and care for the environment, and former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details of US electronic surveillance, for showing how citizens are monitored with few democratic controls. Along with the two, Mussie Zerai, a priest of Eritrean origin living in Italy, helped some of the thousands of African migrants who have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean.
NewsMobile jots down a list of Noble Peace Prize winners over the years:
Kailash Satyarthi (2014)
Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian children’s rights advocate and an activist against child labour. He was awarded the Prize for his struggle against suppression of children.
Malala Yousafzai (2014)
Pakistani schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize for human rights advocacy for education of girls. Malala, 17, is the youngest person to ever get the Peace Prize.
Tawakkul Karman (2011)
Tawakkol Abdel-Salam is a Yemeni journalist, politician and senior member of the of Al-Islah political party (the Islamist and Yemeni offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, and human rights activist. She was awarded for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.
Barack Obama (2009)
The US President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people.
Muhammad Yunus (2006)
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist and civil society leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for launching the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of micro-credit and micro-finance.
Jimmy Carter (2002)
James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 39th President of the US from 1977 to 1981. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.
Kofi Annan (2001)
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from January 1997 to December 2006. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize “for their work for a better organised and more peaceful world.”
Nelson Mandela (1993)
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was awarded the Prize for his work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.
MotherTeresa (1979)
Mother Teresa, born in Macedonia, was a Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary who lived most of her life in India. She was the recipient of numerous honours including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for founding of Missionaries of Charity.
The Dalai Lama (1989)
The 14th Dalai Lama – Tenzin Gyatso – is the current Dalai Lama, as well as the longest-lived incumbent. He was awarded the Prize for his struggle for the liberation of Tibet who consistently has opposed the use of violence.