Nomination Archive


Nomination for Nobel Peace Prize
Year:1901
Number:19 - 12
 
Nominee:
Name:Frédéric Passy
Gender:M
Year, Birth:1822
Year, Death:1912
Profession:Pioneer peace worker. Organizer of peace societies and congresses. Co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
City:Neuilly-sur-Seine
Country:FRANCE (FR)
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1901
 
Motivation:Passy's career as a peace worker began in 1856 with his opposition to the Crimean War. In 1867 he founded the first French peace society (Ligue internationale et permanente de la paix). Passy promoted free trade, pacifism, international law and arbitration. As a member of parliament (1881-1889), Passy also contributed to the founding of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
 
Nominator:
Name:Baroness Bertha Sophie F von Suttner
Gender:F
Year, Birth:1843
Year, Death:1914
Profession:Author. Member of the Commission of the Permanent International Peace Bureau.
City:Vienna
Country:AUSTRIA (AT)
 
Comments: Suttner also mentioned other possible candidates without specifically naming them as nominees for 1901. She wanted Passy, the oldest and most revered of the peace workers, to receive the first peace prize, and she also recommended a division of the prize in order to honor as many as the worthy candidates as possible. In addition she wrote a lengthy letter about how she interpreted the notions in Alfred Nobel's will. She had been a friend of Nobel, and she wished to share her thoughts on the peace prize with the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Among others, she opposed the idea of giving the prize to an organization.