Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1989-2013
CBC News
Last Updated: Oct. 11, 2013
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 11, 2013. Since its inception in 1901, the award has been given to public figures including Lester B. Pearson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, Albert Schweitzer, Liu Xiaobo, Barack Obama and Al Gore. Organizations have also received the honour; the European Union and Médicins sans Frontières are Nobel Peace laureates.
Alfred Nobel said that the award should go to "the person who shall 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." The award honour with a gold medallion, 10 million kronor ($1.7 million Cdn) and the opportunity to deliver a lecture in Oslo in December. Learn more about recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize from 1989 to 2013 by hovering over the images below.
2013
2013
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, represented here by Director General Ahmet Uzumcu, won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons."
2012
2012
The European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for six decades of contributions "to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe."
2011
2011: Karman, Johnson Sirleaf and Gbowee
Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee received the 2011 Peace Prize for their work to promote women's rights.
2010
2010: Liu Xiaobao
Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo received the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Liu has been imprisoned in China since 2009. His chair was kept symbolically empty during the ceremony in Oslo on Dec. 10, 2009.
2009
2009: Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
2008
2008: Martti Ahtisaari
Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari received the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize "for his important efforts on several continents and over more htan three decades, to resolve international conflicts."
2007
2007: Al Gore, IPCC
Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
2006
2006: Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
Muhammad Yunus, known as the "Banker to the Poor," and Grameen Bank shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."
2005
2005: Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA
Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency shared the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way."
2004
2004: Wangeri Muta Maathai
Environmental activist Wangeri Muta Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace."
2003
2003: Shirin Ebadi
Iranian human rights activist Shiran Ebadi received the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize "for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children."
2002
2002: Jimmy Carter
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for "his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
2001
2001: Kofi Annan, UN
Both Annan, then UN secretary general, and the United Nations won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for "their work for a better organized and more peaceful world."
2000
2000: Kim Dae-Jung
Then-South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung was honoured for "his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular."
1999
1999: Médecins sans Frontières
The medical organization, represented by Canadian James Orbinksi, won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize "in recognition of the organization's pioneering humanitarian work on several continents."
1998
1998: David Trimble and John Hume
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and Social Democrat John Hume won the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland."
1997
1997: Jody Williams, ICBL
Williams and the International Campaign to Band Landmines were honoured for "their work for the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines."
1996
1996: Jose-Ramos Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
Jose-Ramos Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for "their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor."
1995
1995: Joseph Rotblat, Pugwash
Rotblat was honoured alongside the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (of which he was president and founder) for "their efforts to diminish the parts played by nuclear arms in international politics and, in the long run, to eliminate such arms."
1994
1994: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin
Arafat, Peres and Rabin (then leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, foreign minister and prime minister of Israel, respectively), were honoured for "their efforts to create peace in the Middle East."
1993
1993: Nelson Mandela and Frederik Williem de Klerk
Mandela and de Klerk won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for "their work and the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa."
1992
1992: Rigoberta Menchù Tum
Tum won the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize "in recognition of her work for social justice and ethno-cultural reconciliation based on respect for the rights of indigenous peoples."
1991
1991: Aung San Suu Kyi
Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for "her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights." She was under house arrest; her son accepted the award on her behalf.
1990
1990: Mikhail Gorbachev
The last secretary general of the Soviet Union was honoured with the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for "his leading role in the peace process which today characterizes important parts of the international community."
1989
1989: The 14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama, who was born Tenzin Gyatso, won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize "for his consistent resistance to the use of violence in his people's struggle to regain their liberty."