The Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1901. It was established in the will of Swedish entrepreneur (and inventor of dynamite) Alfred Nobel, who left much of his fortune behind to create the awards.

The Nobel Prizes are awarded yearly on December 10th - the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death - in the fields of physics, medicine, chemistry, literature, economics, and peace work. The recipients of the Nobel Prize are known as laureates. These awards are given to those individuals who, according to Nobel’s will, “ during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”

South Africa has had several laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize since. In 1960, Albert Lutuli, the President of the African National Congress, received the Prize. Desmond Tutu won the distinction in 1984 for his anti-apartheid work. Most recently, Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk shared the honor of being the Peace Prize laureates for their roles and dedication to effectively ending apartheid in South Africa.

© ProjectExplorer.org, 2007-2011
Text by Dominick Casazza
Image by The Nobel Foundation