The Civil Courage Prize is a human rights award which recognizes "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk—rather than military valor."
The prize was founded in 2000 by the Northcote Parkinson Fund.
The goal of the prize is not to create a "ranking", but "to draw attention individually to some extraordinary heroes of conscience."
It was inspired by the example of
Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
History
In 2007, the Northcote Parkinson Fund's name was changed to The Train Foundation in recognition of the contributions of the family of investment advisor
John Train, the fund's primary donor.
In 2022, the board of trustees consisted of seven members:
*John Train (chair)
*George C. Biddle, Trustee and co-chairman; chairman, World Connect (co-chair)
*Louis N. Bickford, CEO of MEMRIA.ORG (treasurer)
*Ariadne Calvo-Platero, journalist (president)
*Musa T. Klebnikov,
Paul Klebnikov Fund Executive Director
*The Hon. Nicholas Platt, Former U.S. Ambassador
*Ann Brownell Sloane, The Eisenhower Foundation
Since 2000, the foundation has awarded the Civil Courage Prize one or two activists each year.
The prize comes with a $25,000 honorarium.
Nominations are accepted from international non-governmental organizations, while unsolicited nominations are discouraged.
The award ceremony is held in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
or
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in October of each year.
Keynote speakers have included British historian
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposi ...
,
US journalist
Jon Meacham,
British Home Secretary
Douglas Hurd
Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995.
A career diplomat and ...
,
and Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet.
Seven posthumous award winners have also been named, ranging from Swedish businessman
Raoul Wallenberg, who worked to save the lives of Hungarian Jews during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, to Indonesian human rights activist
Munir Said Thalib, assassinated in 2004.
In 2004 and 2005, the Foundation also awarded "Certificates of Distinction in Civil Courage" to selected prize finalists. The certificates included honorariums of $1,000 apiece.
Honorees
Posthumous honorees
Certificates of Distinction in Civil Courage
References
External links
Official website
{{Civil Courage Prize laureates
Human rights awards
Awards established in 2000
International humanitarian and service awards
Courage awards