Nobel Peace prize awarded to
Jean-Henry Dunant in 1901 |  | In his will, Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896, provided for a fund, the interest of which would be used every year to "reward persons whose activities were of the greatest benefit to humanity"...
In 1901, the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Jean-Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, whose whole life was guided by a passionate devotion to the humanitarian cause; he took initiatives and carried out activities of the utmost generosity. Living in poverty in a poorhouse at Heiden (Canton of Appenzell, Switzerland), Henry Dunant preferred to bequeath the prize money to charitable causes rather than to spend it.
The International Committee of the Red Cross was subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize on three different occasions: in 1917 and 1944, as a tribute to its humanitarian activities during the two World Wars, and again in 1963, together with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, on the occasion of the Movement's 100th anniversary. | |
27-28 November 2001
Paris
"Conference on humanitarian
action and law"
The principle of responsibility
In the context of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel peace prize, the ICRC delegation in Paris organised a series of debates at the National Assembly on November 27 and 28. All of the debates were filmed and webcast live on this site, but are not available anymore.
Documents:
Raison d'être of the Conference, by Yves Sandoz, former ICRC international humanitarian law and communication director. |
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