The 1902 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two Swiss: Élie Ducommun, for his role as the first honorary secretary of the International Peace Bureau and Charles Albert Gobat, For his role as the first Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In his toast to the new laureates, Jørgen Gunnarsson Løvland, Chairman of the Nobel Committee, said: “The peace societies . . . have contributed to the creation of the sentiments, feelings, and ideas which shape national opinion and move parliaments, governments, and heads of state to espouse our cause and to achieve our goal.”
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes created by the Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel. Since 1901 it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to those who have “done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses” Over the next few months we’ll be introducing you to the past Nobel laureates, leading up to the award of the 2016 prize in October.
