The Nobel Peace Prize has stood for over a century as one of the most respected honours in the world, recognising outstanding efforts to promote peace, resolve conflicts and defend human rights. Since it was first awarded in 1901, the prize has been conferred 106 times to 143 laureates – comprising 112 individuals and 31 organisations.
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to María Corina Machado, a courageous advocate for democracy in Venezuela. She is honoured for her relentless efforts to promote democratic rights and her leadership in the struggle to achieve a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. The announcement was made by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo on October 10, 2025, continuing the long tradition of celebrating extraordinary contributions to peace worldwide.
Origin and Purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize
Named after Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and industrialist best known for inventing dynamite, the Nobel Peace Prize was established through his will to recognise individuals and organisations that “have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” While Nobel’s invention revolutionised construction and mining, he sought to balance his legacy by encouraging peace and humanitarian efforts.
Starting in 1901, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded nearly every year to those who advance peace, resolve conflicts, and promote human dignity. The prize is unique among the Nobel awards in that it is presented in Oslo, Norway, and its selection process remains confidential for fifty years.
Why the Prize Was Not Awarded in Certain Years
The Nobel Peace Prize has not been awarded 19 times since its inception. These gaps mostly coincide with periods of major global conflict or a perceived lack of suitable candidates. Notably, the prize was withheld during the World War I years (1914–1916, 1918) and World War II years (1939–1943). Other years without winners include 1923, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1948, 1955–1956, 1966–1967, and 1972.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s statutes allow withholding the prize if none of the nominees’ contributions are considered sufficiently impactful or significant. In such cases, the prize money is either held over to the following year or moved to the Foundation’s restricted funds.
One well-known example was in 1948, when Mahatma Gandhi, a figure globally synonymous with non-violence and peace, was not awarded the prize despite multiple nominations. His assassination that year led the Committee to decide against awarding the prize, citing the absence of a suitable living candidate—a decision widely regarded as an implicit tribute to Gandhi’s legacy.
What Does a Nobel Peace Prize Winner Receive?
Besides the global honour and prestige, each Nobel Peace Prize laureate receives an 18-karat gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award currently around 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1 million).
The diplomatic and symbolic significance of the award often far exceeds its monetary value. The Nobel Prize often amplifies laureates’ platforms, giving them greater visibility and influence to continue their important work in peace promotion.
Detailed List of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates (1901–2024)
1901 – Frédéric Passy (France) and Henry Dunant (Switzerland) for pioneering peace efforts and founding the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1902 – Élie Ducommun and Charles Albert Gobat (Switzerland) for their leadership in peace organisations.
1903 – William Randal Cremer (United Kingdom) for arbitration promotion.
1904 – Institute of International Law (Belgium) for establishing legal frameworks for peace.
1905 – Bertha von Suttner (Austria-Hungary) for peace activism and anti-war campaigning.
1906 – Theodore Roosevelt (United States) for mediating peace between Russia and Japan.
1907 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (Italy) and Louis Renault (France) for their contributions to peace negotiations.
1908 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson (Sweden) and Fredrik Bajer (Denmark) for their roles in peace societies.
1909 – Auguste Beernaert (Belgium) and Paul Henri d’Estournelles de Constant (France) for arbitration and peace diplomacy.
1910 – Permanent International Peace Bureau (Switzerland) for central coordination of peace movements.
No awards 1914-1916, 1918 due to World War I.
1917 – International Committee of the Red Cross (Switzerland) for wartime humanitarian relief.
1919 – Woodrow Wilson (United States) for founding the League of Nations.
1920 – Léon Bourgeois (France) for League of Nations leadership.
1921 – Hjalmar Branting (Sweden) and Christian Lous Lange (Norway) for peace advocacy.
1922 – Fridtjof Nansen (Norway) for refugee repatriation efforts.
1923–1924 No awards due to absence of suitable candidates.
1925 – Austen Chamberlain (United Kingdom) and Charles G. Dawes (United States) for Locarno Treaties coordination.
1926 – Aristide Briand (France) and Gustav Stresemann (Germany) for reconciliation efforts in Europe.
1927 – Ferdinand Buisson (France) and Ludwig Quidde (Germany) for peace advocacy work.
1928 No award.
1929 – Frank B. Kellogg (United States) for the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
1930 – Nathan Söderblom (Sweden) for religious peace efforts.
1931 – Jane Addams and Nicholas Murray Butler (United States) for peace activism.
1932 No award.
1933 – Norman Angell (United Kingdom) for writings against war.
1934 – Arthur Henderson (United Kingdom) for disarmament work.
1935 – Carl von Ossietzky (Germany) for exposing rearmament.
1936 – Carlos Saavedra Lamas (Argentina) for mediation in South America.
1937 – Robert Cecil (United Kingdom) for peace advocacy.
1938 – Nansen International Office for Refugees (Norway) for refugee aid.
No awards from 1939-1943 due to World War II.
1944 – International Committee of the Red Cross (Switzerland) again honoured.
1945 – Cordell Hull (United States) for UN creation.
1946 – Emily Greene Balch and John Raleigh Mott (United States) for peace advocacy.
1947 – Friends Service Council (United Kingdom) and American Friends Service Committee (United States) for humanitarian relief.
1948 No award (Gandhi assassination year and no living suitable candidate recognised).
1949 – Lord Boyd Orr (United Kingdom) for nutritional science and peace.
1950 – Ralph Bunche (United States) for mediation in Palestine.
1951 – Léon Jouhaux (France) for trade union work.
1952 – Albert Schweitzer (France/Gabon) for humanitarian medical work.
1953 – George C. Marshall (United States) for Marshall Plan peacebuilding.
1954 – Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, Switzerland) for refugee aid.
1955–1956 No awards.
1957 – Lester B. Pearson (Canada) for UN peacekeeping efforts.
1958 – Georges Pire (Belgium) for refugee assistance.
1959 – Philip Noel-Baker (United Kingdom) for disarmament efforts.
1960 – Albert Lutuli (South Africa) for anti-apartheid work.
1961 – Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden) posthumously for UN peace efforts.
1962 – Linus Pauling (United States) for nuclear disarmament campaigning.
1963 – International Committee of the Red Cross (Switzerland) and League of Red Cross Societies (Switzerland).
1964 – Martin Luther King Jr. (United States) for civil rights and nonviolence.
1965 – United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF, United States) for child welfare.
1966–1967 No awards.
1968 – René Cassin (France) for human rights work.
1969 – International Labour Organization (ILO, Switzerland) for labour rights advocacy.
1970 – Norman Borlaug (United States) for food security work.
1971 – Willy Brandt (West Germany) for Eastern Europe diplomacy.
1972 No award.
1973 – Henry Kissinger (United States) and Le Duc Tho (Vietnam). Le Duc Tho refused the prize.
1974 – Seán MacBride (Ireland) and Eisaku Satō (Japan) for peace and nuclear disarmament efforts.
1975 – Andrei Sakharov (Soviet Union) for human rights.
1976 – Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan (Northern Ireland) for peace efforts.
1977 – Amnesty International (United Kingdom) for human rights advocacy.
1978 – Anwar Sadat (Egypt), Menachem Begin (Israel), and Jimmy Carter (United States) for Middle East peace efforts.
1979 – Mother Teresa (India) for humanitarian work.
1980 – Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Argentina) for human rights.
1981 – Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) again honoured.
1982 – Alva Myrdal (Sweden) and Alfonso García Robles (Mexico) for disarmament.
1983 – Lech Wałęsa (Poland) for trade union defence of freedom.
1984 – Desmond Tutu (South Africa) for anti-apartheid work.
1985 – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (Switzerland).
1986 – Elie Wiesel (United States) for speaking against violence and repression.
1987 – Óscar Arias Sánchez (Costa Rica) for Central American peace efforts.
1988 – United Nations Peacekeeping Forces (UN, International).
1989 – The 14th Dalai Lama (Tibet) for nonviolent resistance.
1990 – Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet Union) for ending the Cold War.
1991 – Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar) for peaceful democracy advocacy.
1992 – Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala) for indigenous rights.
1993 – Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk (South Africa) for apartheid reconciliation.
1994 – Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin (Palestine/Israel) for peace accords.
1995 – Joseph Rotblat (United Kingdom/Poland) and Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (International) for nuclear disarmament.
1996 – Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta (East Timor) for peace efforts.
1997 – International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Jody Williams (United States) for anti-landmine work.
1998 – John Hume and David Trimble (Northern Ireland) for peace process leadership.
1999 – Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, France) for humanitarian aid.
2000 – Kim Dae-jung (South Korea) for democracy and reconciliation.
2001 – United Nations, Kofi Annan (Ghana) for UN peace and human rights.
2002 – Jimmy Carter (United States) for human rights advocacy.
2003 – Shirin Ebadi (Iran) for human rights for women and children.
2004 – Wangari Maathai (Kenya) for environmental activism.
2005 – Mohamed ElBaradei and IAEA (International) for nuclear safeguards.
2006 – Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank (Bangladesh) for microcredit and poverty reduction.
2007 – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore (United States) for climate change awareness.
2008 – Martti Ahtisaari (Finland) for peace mediation.
2009 – Barack Obama (United States) for diplomacy and international cooperation.
2010 – Liu Xiaobo (China) for human rights activism.
2011 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee (Liberia), and Tawakkol Karman (Yemen) for women’s rights and peace.
2012 – European Union for regional peace and integration.
2013 – Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for chemical weapons ban.
2014 – Kailash Satyarthi (India) and Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan) for child rights and education.
2015 – National Dialogue Quartet (Tunisia) for democratic transition.
2016 – Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia) for peace agreement with FARC rebels.
2017 – International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for nuclear disarmament.
2018 – Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad (Congo/Iraq) for combating sexual violence in conflict.
2019 – Abiy Ahmed Ali (Ethiopia) for peace with Eritrea.
2020 – World Food Programme for fighting hunger during conflict and crisis.
2021 – Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov (Philippines/Russia) for press freedom.
2022 – Ales Bialiatski, Memorial, and Center for Civil Liberties (Belarus/Russia/Ukraine) for human rights.
2023 – Narges Mohammadi (Iran) for fight against the oppression of women in Iran.
2024 – Nihon Hidankyo (Japan) for advocating nuclear disarmament and peace.
2025 – María Corina Machado (Venezuela) for advocating democracy in Venezuela.
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