Side Stories from the 2005 Nobel Prize

According to American reports, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize voting is the most tense and competitive in the entire 105-year history of the award.

The Intense Competition for the Nobel Peace Prize

In the final five months, the Norwegian Nobel Committee, composed of five members whose identities are kept strictly confidential, examined the biographies, achievements, financial integrity, ethical standards, and true intentions of 199 candidates, including 36 organizations.

Among the nominated individuals were Pope John Paul II, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its head, Mohamed ElBaradei, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

According to analysts, the main competition for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was among the following key candidates:

– Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who has proposed and participated in numerous peace initiatives in global hotspots, particularly in facilitating negotiations between the Indonesian government and separatist forces in Aceh;

– Rock stars Bob Geldof and Bono of U2, who have made significant contributions to the fight against poverty in Africa;

– American peace activists Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, who have actively participated in nuclear disarmament efforts and were widely predicted to receive the Nobel Peace Prize this year, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic disaster; and physicist Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed Israel’s nuclear secrets.

Ultimately, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award this prestigious prize to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its head, Mohamed ElBaradei, “for their efforts to prevent the military use of atomic energy and to ensure that atomic energy is used solely for peaceful purposes under the safest possible conditions.”

The Nobel Prize in Literature: Always Surprising and Dramatic

Harold Pinter

This year, the Nobel Prize in Literature was announced later than usual, as it was supposed to be revealed the previous week. Rumors suggest that the delay was due to the members of the Swedish Academy being unable to reach a consensus on whom to award the prize.

It started with a lifetime member of the Swedish Academy, Knut Anlund, announcing his withdrawal from the jury after the Nobel Prize in Literature 2004 was awarded to Swedish author Elfriede Jelinek. He did not explain why he waited a year after the announcement to express his reaction.

The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Horace Engdahl, stated that Anlund’s departure had no impact on the ongoing work. According to Engdahl, since 1996, Anlund had not actively participated in the decision-making process for the award. Engdahl suggested that Anlund’s action was intended to cast a shadow over this year’s award ceremony.

After V.S. Naipaul received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001, Pinter became the next British author to receive this prestigious award. Having two British authors win the Nobel Prize in Literature within five years is quite rare in today’s context.

Over 100 Years of Unchanged Voting Procedures

Veteran physicist Anders Barani, director of the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, stated: “The voting system has been carefully considered. Information leaks do occur, but they are often inaccurate. I can say that no organization, movement, or group can advocate for their candidate.” His assertion is credible, as his grandfather was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915, and he himself served as the secretary of the Nobel Committee for Physics from 1988 to 2003. Therefore, he has had the opportunity to observe the voting process from the inside.

According to Anders Barani, the rules followed by the Nobel committees in Stockholm (for Physics, Medicine, Chemistry, Economics, and Literature) and Oslo (for Peace) have not changed significantly.

Every autumn, each committee sends out 3,000 letters to award recipients and to the world’s leading universities and prestigious organizations, requesting nominations for the following year’s award.

Subsequently, the committees conduct preliminary selections and compile a shortlist to present to the elder council, which will make the final decision. The Oslo committee, whose members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, does not need to submit a shortlist to any council. Their decision is final.

Perhaps this is why the Nobel Peace Prize, despite provoking various reactions (e.g., when awarded to Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, or Menachem Begin), generates the least controversy among the six Nobel Prizes.

The award ceremony takes place on December 10 in Stockholm and Oslo. Traditionally, the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Economics are awarded by the King of Sweden at the Stockholm Concert Hall. The Nobel Peace Prize is presented by the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo in the presence of the King of Norway and other royal family members.

Initially, according to the will of Alfred Nobel, drafted on November 27, 1895, the awards were intended only for five fields: Physics, Chemistry, Medicine (Physiology), Literature, and Peace. In 1969, at the suggestion of the Swedish National Bank, the Nobel Prize in Economics was established.

Ironically, the founder of the Peace Prize was one of the most famous figures in the explosives industry.