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The Norwegian Nobel Committee () selects the recipients of the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
each year on behalf of Swedish industrialist
Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...
's estate, based on instructions of Nobel's
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
. Five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. In his will,
Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...
tasked the parliament of Norway with selecting the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time, Norway and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
were in a loose personal union. Despite its members being appointed by Parliament, the committee is a private body tasked with awarding a private prize. In recent decades, most committee members were retired politicians. The committee is assisted by its secretariat, Norwegian Nobel Institute. The committee holds their meetings in the institute's building, where the winner is also announced. Since 1990, however, the award ceremony takes place in Oslo City Hall.


History

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( ; ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is known for inventing dynamite, as well as having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. He also m ...
died in December 1896. In January 1897 the contents of his
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
were unveiled. It was written as early as in 1895. He declared that a
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses", and that some of Nobel's money was to be donated to this prize. The
Nobel Foundation The Nobel Foundation () is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. It also holds Nobel Sym ...
manages the assets. The other
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
s were to be awarded by Swedish bodies ( Swedish Academy,
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...
,
Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...
) that already existed, whereas the responsibility for the Peace Prize was given to the Norwegian Parliament, specifically "a committee of five persons to be elected" by it. A new body had to be created—the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Jurist Fredrik Heffermehl has noted that a legislative body could not necessarily be expected to handle a judicial task like managing a legal will. The task of a parliament is to create and change laws whereas a will can not be changed unless the premises are clearly outdated. However, this question was not debated in depth, out of contemporary fear that the donated money might be lost in legal battles if the body was not created soon.Heffermehl, 2008: p. 72 On 26 April 1897 the Norwegian Parliament accepted the assignment and on 5 August the same year it formalized the process of election and service time for committee members.Heffermehl, 2008: pp. 53–54 The first Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 to Henri Dunant and
Frédéric Passy Frédéric Passy (20 May 182212 June 1912) was a French economist and pacifist who was a founding member of several peace societies and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He was also an author and politician, sitting in the Chamber of Deputies fro ...
. In the beginning, the committee was filled with active parliamentarians and the annual reports were discussed in parliamentary sessions. These ties to the Norwegian Parliament were later weakened so that the committee became more independent. Accordingly, the name was changed from the Norwegian Nobel Committee to the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament () in 1901, but changed back in 1977. Now, active parliamentarians cannot sit on the committee, unless they have explicitly stated their intent to step down shortly. Nonetheless, the committee is still composed mainly of politicians. A 1903 proposition to elect a law scholar ( Ebbe Hertzberg) was rejected. In late 1948, the election system was changed to make the committee more proportional with parliamentary representation of Norwegian political parties. The Norwegian Labour Party, which controlled a simple majority of seats in the Norwegian Parliament orchestrated this change. This practice has been cemented, but sharply criticized. There have been propositions about including non-Norwegian members in the committee, but this has never happened. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is assisted by the Norwegian Nobel Institute, established in 1904. The committee might receive well more than a hundred nominations and asks the Nobel Institute in February every year to research about twenty candidates. The director of the Nobel Institute also serves as secretary to the Norwegian Nobel Committee; currently this position belongs to Olav Njølstad.


List of Chairpersons

;List of chairpersonsHeffermehl, 2008: pp. 60–64 *1900–1901: Bernhard Getz *1901–1922: Jørgen Løvland *1922–1922: Hans Jacob Horst *1922–1941: Fredrik Stang *1941–1943: Gunnar Jahn *1944–1945: ''see below'' *1945–1945: Carl Joachim Hambro *1945–1966: Gunnar Jahn *1967–1967: Nils Langhelle *1967–1967: Bernt Ingvaldsen *1968–1978: Aase Lionæs *1979–1981: John Sanness *1982–1989: Egil Aarvik *1990–1990: Gidske Anderson *1991–1999: Francis Sejersted *2000–2002:
Gunnar Berge Gunnar Berge (born 29 August 1940) is a Norway, Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party, born in Etne, Hordaland. Berge represented Rogaland in the Stortinget, Norwegian Parliament from 1969 to 1993. He was Minister of Fi ...
*2003–2008: Ole Danbolt Mjøs *2009–2015: Thorbjørn Jagland *2015–2017: Kaci Kullmann Five *2017–2023: Berit Reiss-Andersen *2024–present: Jørgen Watne Frydnes In January 1944 an attempt by the Quisling government to take over the functions of the Nobel Committee led to the resignation of Jahn and other committee members. The Swedish consulate-general in Oslo formally took over the management of the Foundation's Oslo property on behalf of the Nobel Foundation.


Members

The members are: * Berit Reiss-Andersen (chair, born 1954),
advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...
(barrister) and president of the Norwegian Bar Association, former state secretary for the Minister of Justice and the Police (representing the Labour Party). Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2012, reappointed for the period 2018–2023. * Anne Enger (born 1949), former Leader of the Centre Party and
Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...
. Appointed for the period 2018–2020, and reappointed for the period 2021–2026. * Asle Toje (born 1974), foreign policy scholar. Appointed for the period 2018–2023. * Kristin Clemet, former Conservative Party cabinet member who previously represented Oslo in Norwegian Parliament. Appointed for the period 2021–2026. * Jørgen Watne Frydnes, appointed for the period 2021–2026.


Secretariat

The committee is assisted by the Norwegian Nobel Institute, its secretariat. The leader of the institute holds the title secretary. The secretary is not a member of the committee, but is an employee of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. ;List of secretaries *1901–1909: Christian Lous Lange *1910–1945: Ragnvald Moe *1946–1973: August Schou *1974–1977: Tim Greve *1978–1989: Jakob Sverdrup *1990–2015: Geir Lundestad *2015–present: Olav Njølstad


References

;Notes ;Bibliography * *Heffermehl, Fredrik (2010). ''The Nobel Peace Prize. What Nobel really wanted. Sta Barbara: Praeger. .


External links


Norwegian Nobel Committee
nbsp;– official site
Nobel Prize
nbsp;– official site {{Authority control Organisations based in Oslo Organizations established in 1901 1901 establishments in Norway Nobel Peace Prize