African Nobel Peace Prize Winners
10 African Nobel Peace Prize Winners. In no particular order because they're all awesome
10. Albert John Luthuli
Name: Albert John Luthuli
Born: Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1898
Died: South Africa, 1967
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 1960
Albert John Lithuli was the-first African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a spokesman for nonviolent protest of apartheid in South Africa. Lithuli was the president of the African National Congress (ANC), a group that opposed the apartheid regime. In 1960, Lithuli was arrested and imprisoned by the South African government for his activism.
Historical Background: Luthuli protested South Africa's system of government known as apartheid, which literally means "separateness." Apartheid was the legal system of racial separation of white and non-white Africans. Despite being a minority in South Africa, the whites who controlled the government enacted laws that separated whites and non-whites in public areas, as well as limiting non-whites ability to participate in government. The system of apartheid officially began in 1948 with the election of the Afrikaner National Party, though racial segregation had existed for decades. Luthuli was the first African Nobel Peace Prize winner who fought the system of apartheid.
Source:
"Chief Albert John Lithuli." South African History Online.
9. Nelson Mandela
Name: Nelson Mandela
Born: Qunu, South Africa in 1918
Died: Johannesburg, South Africa in 2013
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: 1993
Nelson Mandela, along with F.W. de Klerk, was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa." Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and a key leader in the African National Congress, which worked to end the apartheid system in South Africa. Because of his work protesting South Africa's apartheid system, Mandela was arrested and imprisoned in 1963; Mandela remained in jail until he was released in 1990. Following his release from prison, Mandela was elected President of South Africa. Nelson Mandela is arguably the most famous anti-apartheid leader and activist. More information regarding apartheid in South Africa can be found here.
Historical Background: The apartheid regime began to slowly decline in 1989 when South African President F.W. de Klerk repealed (or lessened) some apartheid laws, such as those separating whites and non-whites in public places. In 1990, de Klerk freed anti-apartheid activists, including Nelson Mandela. Ultimately, apartheid officially ended in 1991; in 1994, South Africa held its first democratic election and elected Nelson Mandela. As President, Mandela helped to unite both white and non-white South Africans moving forward.
Quote: "It always seems impossible until it's done."
Source: Glad, Betty, and Robert Blanton. "F. W. De Klerk and Nelson Mandela: A Study in Cooperative Transformational Leadership." Presidential Studies Quarterly 27, no. 3 (1997): 565-90. doi:1997.
The 16th Man. ESPN Home Entertainment, 2010. Film.
8. Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
Born: Mit Abu al-Kawm, Egypt in 1918
Died: Cairo, Egypt in 1981 (assassinated)
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 1979
Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat was an Egyptian diplomat and President of Egypt. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating a peace agreement with Israel in March 1979; the agreement was facilitated by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and was known as the Camp David Accords. Though the treaty was favorable to Egypt, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the treaty. In October 1981, Anwar El-Sadat was assassinated, partly because of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty.
Quote: "I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than how others saw me."
Source: "Anwar Al-Sadat - Facts." Anwar Al-Sadat - Facts.
7. Mohamed El Baradei
Name: Mohamed El Baradei
Born: Cairo, Egypt in 1942
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 2005
Mohamed El Baradei is an Egyptian legal scholar and diplomat who has served in several significant government positions (including most recently as the Vice President of Egypt). El Baradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency were awarded the 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 way possible." At that time, El Baradei was the Director General of the organization. Since his Nobel Prize, he has continued to remain active in government and international affairs. You can follow him on Twitter to see his most recent work.
Quote: "Even with the best intentions, you can have a nuclear war, a nuclear holocaust, through miscalculation, through accidents."
Source: "Mohamed ElBaradei - Biographical." Mohamed ElBaradei - Biographical.
6. Kofi Annan
Born: Kumasi, Gold Coast (present day Ghana) in 1938
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 2001
Kofi Annan is a diplomat and humanitarian who has worked primarily for the United Nations for his career. Kofi Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the United Nations "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world."
Source: NobelPrize.org
Quote: "I speak of a girl in Afghanistan, but i might equally well have mentioned a baby boy or girl in Sierra Leone. no one today is unaware of these desiccate between the world's rich and poor. No one today can claim ignorance of the cost that this divide imposes on the poor and dispossessed who are no less deserving of human dignity, fundamental freedoms, security food and education than any of us..."
5. Wangari Maathai
Name: Wangari Maathai
Born: Nyeri, Kenya in 1940
Died: Nairobi, Kenya in 2011
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 2004
Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win Nobel Peace Prize "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace." Maathai was a biologist and later an author; she was the first woman from east & central Africa to have a doctorate degree and also the first female professor in Kenya's history. Maathai worked to stop deforestation in the 1970s when she launched a campaign that was known as the Green Belt Movement. The Green Belt Movement encouraged women to plant trees in their local areas in response to degrading environmental conditions, like streams drying up and loss of trees. The movement resulted in the planting of more than 30 million trees across several countries. The Green Belt Movement illustrated the power of women throughout Africa and encouraged women to improve their local environments.
Quote: "We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and the future generations of all species to rise up and walk!"
Source: "Wangari Maathai - Biographical." Wangari Maathai - Biographical.
4. Desmond Mpilu Tutu
Name: Desmond Mpilu Tutu
Born: Klerksdorp, South Africa in 1931
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 1984
Desmond Tutu is an Anglican bishop who non-violently opposed apartheid in South Africa. Tutu had 4 main demands for a democratic & just society:
1. Equal civil rights for all
2. Abolition of South Africa's passport laws
3. Common system of education
4. Cessation of forced deportation from South Africa to "homelands"
Tutu worked to achieve these goals by unifying people against apartheid and organizing demonstrations and marches to oppose the system. A brief timeline of Desmond Tutu's life, along with quotes can be found here.
Historical Background: Apartheid as a system was constantly changing. Legislation like the Bantu Authorities Act (1951) created independent black South African "homelands" - meaning millions of black South Africans were no longer considered citizens. Other legislation included laws forcing black South Africans to relocate and carry official documentation. Massacres like the one that occurred in Sharpesville in 1960 (in which over 70 blacks were killed for refusing to carry reference books that were required to be carried by all non-white South Africans at all times) mobilized black South African leaders to fight apartheid. The leaders of the anti-apartheid movement had different ideas about the best course of action. Some, like Desmond Tutu, supported non-violent resistance, while others like Nelson Mandela endorsed resistance that included violence.
Quote: "Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Source:
"The History of Apartheid in South Africa." The History of Apartheid in South Africa. http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html.
"Desmond Tutu - Facts." Desmond Tutu - Facts. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-facts.html
3. Frederik Willem de Klerk
Name: F.W. de Klerk
Born: Johannesburg, South Africa in 1936
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 1993
F.W. de Klerk was elected President of South Africa in 1989 when the country remained under apartheid rule. Though he was a conservative for most of his political career (de Klerk supported the apartheid regime), he saw the negative effect of apartheid on South Africa. de Klerk helped to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. After his election, de Klerk began lessening apartheid laws and in 1990, de Klerk removed a ban on the African National Congress and freed Nelson Mandela from prison. After the first democratic election in South Africa was held in 1994, de Klerk was the deputy president under Nelson Mandela. Because of their efforts to end apartheid, Mandela and de Klerk were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa."
This article remembers the 20th anniversary of the end of apartheid and the role of F.W. de Klerk.
Quote: "When I talk about the end of apartheid, I prefer not to claim the honor that I have ended it."
Source:
Johnson, Anthony. 1995. Frederik willem de klerk: A conservative revolutionary. The Unesco Courier(11): 22
"F.W. De Klerk - Biographical." F.W. De Klerk - Biographical.
2. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Born: Monrovia, Liberia in 1938
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 2011
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the current president of Liberia and the first female president in Africa. After earning a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, she returned to Liberia and began her career in government in the early 1970s. She publicly protested leaders with whom she disagreed and spent a year in prison during the dictatorship of General Samuel Doe. During her career, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf worked for international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank. She was elected President of Liberia in 2005 and worked to rebuild the country after a civil war that ended in 2003. Johnson Sirleaf was re-elected in 2011 and is known as "Africa's Iron Lady." She, along with fellow Liberian Leymah Gbowee, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women & for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."
One of many interviews with Johnson Sirleaf, this 2010 New York Times article shows her vision for her country and her emphasis on empowering women.
Quote: "All girls know that they can be anything now. That transformation is to me one of the most satisfying things."
Source: Adams, Melinda. "Liberia's Election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Women's Executive Leadership in Africa." Politics and Gender 4, no. 3, 475-84. doi: September 2008.
1. Leymah Gbowee
Born: Monrovia, Liberia in 1972
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize: 2011
Leymah Gbowee is a peace activist, social worker, and women's rights advocate who worked to end Liberia's Second Civil War, which began in the late 1980s and ended in 2003. Gbowee was a young woman when the civil war began. After rehabilitating former child soldiers who were injured in the war, she began advocating for peace and encouraged mothers and women to work to achieve peace in Liberia. One of Gbowee's most influential accomplishments was organizing a coalition of Christian and Muslim women to protest Liberia's civil war. The massive support for the protest helped force Liberia's President to negotiate peace. When peace talks stalled at one point, Gbowee and the female supporters formed a human barricade around the President's representatives. Ultimately the protest succeeded and the Liberian civil war ended. For her role in ending the civil war, she was awarded a share of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize "for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women & for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work."
The following clip is part of Gbowee's interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.
Quote: "The one thing I have never been afraid of is standing before important people and speaking my mind. I represent women who may never have the opportunity to go to the UN or meet with a president. I'm never afraid to speak truth to power."
Source: "Leymah Gbowee - Biographical." Leymah Gbowee - Biographical.
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