Nobel Peace Prize 2023 Awarded to Narges Mohammadi

Narges Mohammadi “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2023 to to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all. Her brave struggle has come with tremendous personal costs. Altogether, the regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes.

This year’s peace prize also recognises the hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women. The motto adopted by the demonstrators – “Woman – Life – Freedom” – suitably expresses the dedication and work of Narges Mohammadi.

Narges Mohammadi

Born: 21 April 1972, Zanjan, Iran

Facts on the Nobel Peace Prize

Number of Nobel Peace Prizes

103 Nobel Peace Prizes have been awarded since 1901. It was not awarded on 19 occasions: in 1914-1916, 1918, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1939-1943, 1948, 1955-1956, 1966-1967 and 1972.

Youngest peace laureate

To date, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate is Malala Yousafzai, who was 17 years old when awarded the 2014 peace prize.

Oldest peace laureate

The oldest Nobel Peace Prize laureate to date is Joseph Rotblat, who was 87 years old when he was awarded the prize in 1995.

Multiple Nobel Peace Prize laureates

The work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been honoured the most – three times – by a Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, the founder of the ICRC, Henry Dunant, was awarded the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.

Nominated but not awarded

The three most common searches on individuals in the Nobel Peace Prize nomination database are Adolf Hitler, Mahatma Gandhi and Joseph Stalin.

Joseph Stalin, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953), was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 and 1948 for his efforts to end World War II.

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the strongest symbols of non-violence in the 20th century, was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, shortly before he was assassinated in January 1948. Although Gandhi was not awarded the prize (a posthumous award is not allowed by the statutes), the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to make no award that year on the grounds that “there was no suitable living candidate”.

Adolf Hitler was nominated once in 1939. As unlikely as it may seem today, Adolf Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1939 by a member of the Swedish parliament, E.G.C. Brandt. Apparently, Brandt never intended the nomination to be taken seriously. Brandt was a dedicated antifascist and had intended this nomination more as a satiric criticism of the current political debate in Sweden. At the time, a number of Swedish parliamentarians had nominated then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain for the Nobel Peace Prize, a nomination which Brandt viewed with great skepticism. However, Brandt’s satirical intentions were not well received and the nomination was swiftly withdrawn in a letter dated 1 February 1939.