History Of The Most Prestigious Award:
The six international prizes are awarded annually for outstanding work in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, economics, and the promotion of peace. The Nobel Prizes, first awarded in 1901, are decided by members of Swedish learned societies or, in the case of the peace prize, the Norwegian Parliament.
Winner Of 2022
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.
Winner Of 2021
Last year journalists Dmitry Muratov of Russia and Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award for ‘their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.’
Origin Of The Noble Prize
The Announcements
The Nobel Prize announcements began with Swedish scientist Svante Paabo receiving the award in medicine for his remarkable work on Neanderthal DNA. Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger won the award in physics for their work in quantum physics.
In chemistry, the prestigious award was given to Americans Carolyn R. Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless, and Danish scientist Morten Meldal for developing click chemistry.
French author Annie Ernaux won this year’s Nobel Prize in literature.
A Look Back At The History
Ales Bialiatski was one of the initiators of the democratic movement that emerged in Belarus in the mid-1980s. He has devoted his life to promoting democracy and peaceful development in his home country. Among other things, he founded the organization Viasna in 1996 in response to the controversial constitutional amendments that gave the president dictatorial powers and that triggered widespread demonstrations. Viasna provided support for the jailed demonstrators and their families. In the years that followed, Viasna evolved into a broad-based human rights organization that documented and protested against the authorities’ use of torture against political prisoners.
Government authorities have repeatedly sought to silence Ales Bialiatski. He was imprisoned from 2011 to 2014. Following large-scale demonstrations against the regime in 2020, he was again arrested. He is still detained without trial. Despite tremendous personal hardship, Mr. Bialiatski has not yielded an inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus.
The human rights organization Memorial was established in 1987 by human rights activists in the former Soviet Union who wanted to ensure that the victims of the communist regime’s oppression would never be forgotten. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and human rights advocate Svetlana Gannushkina were among the founders. Memorial is based on the notion that confronting past crimes is essential in preventing new ones.
