The 1977 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Amnesty International, based in the United Kingdom, for protecting the human rights of prisoners of conscience. The Nobel Lecture was delivered by Mümtaz Soysal (pictured), a Turkish academic, the first former prisoner of conscience to serve on the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International. He said, “Peace is not to be measured by the absence of conventional war, but constructed upon foundations of justice. Where there is injustice, there is the seed of conflict. Where human rights are violated, there are threats to peace.”
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.
