A Piece About the Peace Prize
09 October 2009 | By Sonja in Editorials, PoliticsBroadcasters and pundits ccould be a bit more kind in their reviews of President Obama’s surprise Nobel Peace Prize. He IS the first
Making Peace
African American to sit in the White House. It is odd that, according to CNN, the Nobel Committee closed nominations shortly after Obama was inaugurated. His “peace” efforts were still wet ink droplets on the page at that time.
In any event, Barack Obama will give the money to charity, all $1.4 million of it, which after taxes will be something over $700,000. Donating the balance to charity will shelter the remainder of his government salary this year! Those are the realities.
Past Peace Prize recipients include Al Gore, Henry Kissenger, Jimmy Carter, and of course Martin Luther King. I thought it might be interesting to remember the names and acts of women who have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize . Turns out there’s a lot of politics…..in peace.
Bertha Suttner – 1905
Suttner, Bertha (Gräfin Kinsky), Freifrau von (ber’tä, grāf’in kins’kē, frī’frou fun zoot’nur) [key], 1843–1914, Austrian novelist, known chiefly as an ardent pacifist. Her pacifist novel Die Waffen nieder (1889, tr. Lay Down Your Arms, 1892) had great social impact. Through her subsequent friendship with Alfred Nobel, she influenced him to establish the Nobel Prizes. She was the first woman awarded (1905) the Nobel Peace Prize.
Addams, Jane – 1931
Addams, Jane, 1860–1935, American social worker, b. Cedarville, Ill., grad. Rockford College, 1881. In 1889, with Ellen Gates Starr, she founded Hull House in Chicago, one of the first social settlements in the United States (see settlement house). Based on the university settlements begun in England by Samuel Barnett, Hull House served as a community center for the neighborhood poor and later as a center for social reform activities. It was important in Chicago civic affairs and had an influence on the settlement movement throughout the country. An active reformer throughout her career, Jane Addams was a leader in the woman’s suffrage and pacifist (see pacifism) movements, and was a strong opponent of the Spanish-American War. She was the recipient (jointly with Nicholas Murray Butler) of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize. Her books on social questions include The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (1909), A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil (1912), and Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922).
(2005); studies by D. Levine (1971) and J. B. Elshtain (2001).
Emily Greene Balch – 1946
Balch, Emily Greene (bolch) [key], 1867–1961, American economist and sociologist, b. Jamaica Plain, Mass., grad. Bryn Mawr, 1889. She taught at Wellesley College until her dismissal (1918) for opposing U.S. involvement in World War I. Co-founder of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom with Jane Addams and its international secretary from 1919 to 1922, she shared with John R. Mott the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize.
Mairead Corrigan – 1976
Corrigan, Mairead (moi’ru kôr’igun) [key], 1944–, Irish social activist, b. Belfast. A volunteer social worker in the Catholic neighborhoods of Belfast, Corrigan saw three of her sister’s children killed when a car driven by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorist went out of control after being fired on by British troops. Betty Williams, who also witnessed the incident, joined with Corrigan to form the Peace People Organization, a movement of Catholics and Protestants dedicated to ending sectarian fighting in Northern Ireland. For their work the two women were awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize.
Mother Teresa – 1979
Teresa, Mother, 1910–97, Roman Catholic missionary in India, winner of the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, b. Skopje (now in Macedonia) as Agnes Goxha Bojaxhiu. Of Albanian parentage, she went to India at 17, becoming a nun and teaching school in Calcutta (now Kolkata). In 1948 she left the convent and founded the Missionaries of Charity, which now operates schools, hospitals, orphanages, and food centers worldwide. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
See her writings in In My Own Words (1996, comp. by J. L. González-Balado) and her letters in Come Be My Light (2007, ed. by B. Kolodiejchuk).
Alva Myrdal – 1982
Myrdal, Alva (äl’vä mir’däl, Swed. mür’däl) [key], 1902–86, Swedish sociologist, diplomat, and political leader. As a sociologist in the 1930s, she initiated a national program establishing state responsibility for child care. She actively participated in the United Nations as head of the department of social welfare (1949–50) and as director of the department of social sciences of UNESCO (1950–56). She was ambassador (1955–61) to India, Burma (now Myanmar), Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Nepal. After she served as a member of Sweden’s parliament (1962–70), she led Sweden’s delegation to the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva (1962–73) and was minister of disarmament and church affairs (1967–73). For her work in the nuclear disarmament movement, she won the 1982 Nobel Peace Prize. Her writings include The Game of Disarmament (1976) and War, Weapons and Everyday Violence (1977). She was married to Gunnar Myrdal.
Aung San Suu Kyi – 1991
Aung San Suu Kyi (äN săn sOO chē) [key], 1945–, Burmese political leader; grad. Oxford Univ. The daughter of assassinated (1947) nationalist general U Aung San, who is regarded as the founder of modern Myanmar, she lived outside the country after 1960. Returning in 1988 to care for her dying mother, she joined the opposition to U Ne Win and became leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). Her outspoken criticism of the military leaders of Myanmar and the memory of her father made her a symbol of popular desire for political freedom and a focus of opposition to the dictatorship. In July, 1989, she was placed under house arrest. The NLD won 80% of the seats in 1990 elections for parliament, but the military refused to yield power. Awarded the 1990 Sakharov Prize from the European Parliament and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle, she remained under house arrest until 1995 and was subsequently subject to severe restrictions. Nonetheless, she has stayed in Myanmar, continuing to write and speak for her cause. She subsequently has been placed in house arrest or detention from Sept., 2000 to May, 2002, and since May, 2003.
Rigoberta Menchú – 1992
Menchú, Rigoberta (rē”gōber’tä menchOO‘) [key], 1959–, Guatemalan social reformer. Of Mayan descent, she and her family were caught in Guatemala’s bloody civil war. Protesters against human-rights abuses, her father, mother, and younger brother were killed by Guatamalan soldiers, and in 1981 Menchú fled the country and settled in Mexico. At home and abroad, she has worked to secure and protect the rights of indigenous peoples in her country and to promote intercultural peace. For her efforts, Menchú was awarded the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. In 1998 her autobiographical I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983) was attacked as partly fabricated, provoking international controversy. Menchú was candidate for the Guatemalan presidency in 2007, but won only 3% of the vote.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All ri
Shirin Ebadi – 2003
Lawyer / Activist
Shirin Ebadin won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting the rights of women and children in her home country of Iran. Ebadi studied at Tehran University, graduating with a law degree in 1971, and was named Iran’s first-ever female judge in 1975. However, she and other female judges were forced to resign when Iran became an Islamic Republic after the revolution of 1979. After years of being denied a law license, Ebadi set up her own legal practice in 1992 and quickly developed a special interest the rights of women, journalists, and others who lacked power under the Iranian regime. She co-founded the Association for Support of Children’s Rights (in 1995) and the Human Rights Defense Center (in 2001) and became known outside Iran for her clashes with the country’s ruling clerics. The 2003 announcement from the Nobel Committee praised Ebadi for “her efforts for democracy and human rights” and said “She has stood up as a sound professional, a courageous person, and has never heeded the threats to her own safety.” Her books include The Rights of the Child (1993), Tradition and Modernity (1995) and The Rights of Women (2002).
Posted in Editorials, Politics | No Comments yet » | 
| 