a
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Jane Addams
Women's Rights Activist, Anti-War Activist, Philanthropist / 1860 - 1935
Jane Addams co-founded one of the first settlements in the United States, the Hull House in Chicago, Illinois, and was named a co-winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize.
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(1860-1935)
Women's Rights Activist, Anti-War Activist, Philanthropist
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Kofi Annan
Civil Servant / 1938 -
Kofi Annan is best known for his role as secretary-general of the United Nations.
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(1938-)
Civil Servant
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Yasser Arafat
Political Leader / 1929 - 2004
Yasser Arafat was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969 until his death in 2004, a tumultuous period in which clashes with neighboring Israel were prevalent.
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(1929-2004)
Political Leader
b
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Emily Greene Balch
Educator, Activist / 1867 - 1961
Social activist and pacifist Emily Greene Balch won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for being a lifetime advocate of the persecuted and oppressed.
See full bio
(1867-1961)
Educator, Activist
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Menachem Begin
Prime Minister / 1913 - 1992
Menachem Begin was prime minister of Israel from 1977 to 1983. He was the co-recipient of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
See full bio
(1913-1992)
Prime Minister
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Norman Borlaug
Biologist / 1914 - 2009
Norman Borlaug’s research of genetic mutation in plants helped start the Green Revolution, which resulted increased wheat production in Mexico, Pakistan and India.
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(1914-2009)
Biologist
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Willy Brandt
Political Leader / 1913 - 1992
Willy Brandt was a German statesman, leader of the German Social Democratic Party and chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1969–74).
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(1913-1992)
Political Leader
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Ralph Bunche
Diplomat / 1904 - 1971
Ralph Bunche was a U.S. diplomat, a key member of the United Nations for more than two decades, and the winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize for Peace.
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(1904-1971)
Diplomat
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Jimmy Carter
U.S. President / 1924 -
Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States (1977-81) and later was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
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(1924-)
U.S. President
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René Cassin
Anti-War Activist, Lawyer / 1887 - 1976
French jurist and lawyer René Cassin is best known for his involvement in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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(1887-1976)
Anti-War Activist, Lawyer
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Charles G. Dawes
Diplomat, U.S. Vice President, Minister / 1865 - 1951
Charles G. Dawes was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize who became the 30th U.S. vice president under Calvin Coolidge.
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(1865-1951)
Diplomat, U.S. Vice President, Minister
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F.W. de Klerk
Lawyer, World Leader / 1936 -
F.W. de Klerk was president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994, during which time he worked with Nelson Mandela to successfully end the country's apartheid system of racial segregation.
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(1936-)
Lawyer, World Leader
e
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Shirin Ebadi
Children's Activist, Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Lawyer, Judge, Journalist / 1947 -
Shirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer and human-rights activist. She was the first female judge in Iran, and won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize.
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(1947-)
Children's Activist, Civil Rights Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Lawyer, Judge, Journalist
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Anwar el-Sadat
World Leader / 1918 - 1981
Anwar el-Sadat was the one-time president of Egypt (1970-1981) who shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for establishing peace agreements with Israel.
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(1918-1981)
World Leader
g
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Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
World Leader, Government Official / 1931 -
Mikhail Gorbachev was the first president of the Soviet Union, serving from 1990 to 1991. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for contributing to the break-up of the USSR.
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(1931-)
World Leader, Government Official
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Al Gore
Environmental Activist, U.S. Vice President / 1948 -
Al Gore was the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He is also known for his work regarding environmental issues.
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(1948-)
Environmental Activist, U.S. Vice President
h
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John Hume
Political Leader / 1937 -
John Hume was leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland. He and David Trimble were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
See full bio
(1937-)
Political Leader
j
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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
World Leader / 1938 -
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the world's first elected black female president and Africa's first elected female head of state.
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(1938-)
World Leader
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Civil Rights Activist, Minister / 1929 - 1968
Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968.
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(1929-1968)
Civil Rights Activist, Minister
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Henry Kissinger
Diplomat, Political Scientist / 1923 -
Henry Kissinger is an American political scientist and diplomat who won the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to broker a peaceful settlement of the Vietnam War.
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(1923-)
Diplomat, Political Scientist
l
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Dalai Lama
Activist, Political Leader, Religious Leader / 1935 -
Dalai Lama, Tibet's political leader, has strived to make Tibet an independent and democratic state from China. He and his followers are exiled to India.
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(1935-)
Activist, Political Leader, Religious Leader
m
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Wangari Maathai
Environmental Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Government Official / 1940 - 2011
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan political and environmental activist and her country's assistant minister of environment, natural resources and wildlife.
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(1940-2011)
Environmental Activist, Women's Rights Activist, Government Official
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Seán MacBride
Activist, Diplomat, Government Official / 1904 - 1988
Sean MacBride was an Irish politician and the former chief of staff of the IRA
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(1904-1988)
Activist, Diplomat, Government Official
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Nelson Mandela
Civil Rights Activist, World Leader, Journalist / 1918 -
Nelson Mandela became the first black president of South Africa in 1994. A symbol of global peacemaking, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
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(1918-)
Civil Rights Activist, World Leader, Journalist
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George C. Marshall Jr.
General, Government Official / 1880 - 1959
During his military career, George C. Marshall Jr. served as U.S. Army chief of staff and secretary of state. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
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(1880-1959)
General, Government Official
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Mother Teresa
Nun, Saint / 1910 - 1997
Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor.
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(1910-1997)
Nun, Saint
o
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Barack Obama
Lawyer, U.S. President, U.S. Representative / 1961 -
Barack Obama is the 44th and current president of the United States, and the first African American to serve as U.S. president. First elected to the presidency in 2008, he won a second term in 2012.
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(1961-)
Lawyer, U.S. President, U.S. Representative
p
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Linus Pauling
Chemist / 1901 - 1994
Linus Pauling was a theoretical physical chemist who became the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.
See full bio
(1901-1994)
Chemist
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Shimon Peres
World Leader, Prime Minister / 1923 -
President of Israel Shimon Peres was also twice prime minister of Israel and won a Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Oslo Accords with Rabin and Arafat.
See full bio
(1923-)
World Leader, Prime Minister
r
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Yitzhak Rabin
Prime Minister / 1922 - 1995
Yitzhak Rabin was Israeli statesman who, as prime minister of Israel, led his country toward peace with its Palestinian and Arab neighbors.
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(1922-1995)
Prime Minister
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José Ramos-Horta
Activist, World Leader, Prime Minister / 1949 -
José Ramos-Horta received the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort to bring independence to East Timor. He became prime minister and later president of East Timor.
See full bio
(1949-)
Activist, World Leader, Prime Minister
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Louis Renault
Educator, Judge, Journalist / 1843 - 1918
Louis Renault was a French jurist and educator and co-winner in 1907 of the Nobel Prize for Peace.
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(1843-1918)
Educator, Judge, Journalist
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Theodore Roosevelt
Environmental Activist, Warrior, Governor, U.S. President / 1858 - 1919
A New York governor who became the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for his foreign policy, corporate reforms and ecological preservation.
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(1858-1919)
Environmental Activist, Warrior, Governor, U.S. President
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Joseph Rotblat
Activist, Physicist, Journalist / 1908 - 2005
Physicist Joseph Rotblat participated in the Manhattan project. After the World War II, he devoted himself to peaceful applications of nuclear physics.
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(1908-2005)
Activist, Physicist, Journalist
s
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Aung San Suu Kyi
Activist, Political Leader / 1945 -
Aung San Suu Kyi is an opposition leader in her home country of Myanmar and the winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Peace.
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(1945-)
Activist, Political Leader
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Albert Schweitzer
Philosopher, Scholar, Doctor, Musician, Missionary, Preacher, Theologian, Journalist / 1875 - 1965
Albert Schweitzer was Alsatian-German theologian, philosopher, organist, and mission doctor in equatorial Africa, whose goal was the Brotherhood of Nations.
See full bio
(1875-1965)
Philosopher, Scholar, Doctor, Musician, Missionary, Preacher, Theologian, Journalist
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Oscar Arias Sánchez
World Leader, Government Official / 1941 -
Learn about Costa Rica's former president Oscar Arias Sánchez on Biography.com. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to bring peace to the region.
See full bio
(1941-)
World Leader, Government Official
t
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Le Duc Tho
Political Leader / 1911 - 1990
Le Duc Tho was a Vietnamese politician and co-recipient in 1973 (with Henry Kissinger) of the Nobel Prize for Peace, which he declined.
See full bio
(1911-1990)
Political Leader
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David Trimble
Political Leader / 1944 -
David Trimble served as first minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, and a member of the British Parliament.
See full bio
(1944-)
Political Leader
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Desmond Tutu
Archbishop / 1931 -
Desmond Tutu is a South African Anglican cleric who is known for his role in the opposition to apartheid in South Africa.
See full bio
(1931-)
Archbishop
w
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Lech Walesa
Activist, World Leader / 1943 -
Labor activist and later Polish president Lech Walesa helped form and lead communist Poland's first independent trade union, Solidarity and won a Nobel Prize.
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(1943-)
Activist, World Leader
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Elie Wiesel
Writer / 1928 -
Elie Wiesel is a Nobel-Prize winning writer, teacher and activist known for the memoir Night, in which he recounts his experiences surviving the Holocaust.
See full bio
(1928-)
Writer
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Woodrow Wilson
Educator, U.S. President / 1856 - 1924
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. resident, led America through World War I and crafted the Versailles Treaty's "Fourteen Points," the last of which was creating a League of Nations to ensure world peace. Wilson also created the Federal Reserve and signed the 19th Amendment, allowing women to vote.
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(1856-1924)
Educator, U.S. President
y
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Muhammad Yunus
Economist / 1940 -
Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank, which provides poor Bangladeshis with micro loans and credit.
See full bio
(1940-)
Economist