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Nobel Peace Prize: Famous laureates, from Malala Yousafzai to Lester B. Pearson
Several U.S. presidents and a future Canadian prime minister are among the most famous Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
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Year: 2026
Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote international law. She is a South African-born jurist and a former UN human rights chief. She has defended the rights of Nelson Mandela and led a panel that found Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
The Nobel committee said Pillay’s award was a message to those seeking to undermine “the international rules-based system and the institutions.”
(Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
A Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil girl presents a floral garland as she welcomes UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka, Aug. 27, 2013. Survivors of Sri Lanka's civil war spoke to Pillay about missing relatives, military land grabs and a life without basic facilities more than four years after the end of the quarter-century war. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Year: 2025
The Venezuelan opposition leader was awarded in 2025 ‘for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,’ The Nobel Prize says.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado speaks during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she claims the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Maria Corina Machado presents U.S. President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize, Jan. 15, 2026. (The White House / X)
Year: 2023
Mohammadi was awarded ‘for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,’ The Nobel Prize says.
Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi speaks at a meeting in Tehran, Iran, In this July 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
This photo provided by the Narges Mohammadi Foundation shows Narges Mohammadi posing for a portrait in Tehran, Iran on Feb. 9, 2025. (Nooshin Jafari/Narges Mohammadi Foundation via AP)
Year: 2016
Colombia's former president won in 2016 for 'for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.'
Colombia's former president Juan Manuel Santos arrives at La Moneda presidential palace for a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the military coup that toppled the government of late President Salvador Allende in Santiago, Chile, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize, speaks after accepting the Inter-American Dialogue's Leadership for the Americas Award at the institution's annual gala dinner in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Year: 2014
Malala was awarded the prize at age 17 ‘for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education,’ according to The Nobel Prize.
Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for female education and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate accompanied by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaks in the Treaty Room at the State Department, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, from Pakistan, makes an address after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014. (AP / Cornelius Poppe, NTB Scanpix)
Year: 2010
Author and prisoner Liu Xiaobo won the prize 'for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.'
Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo holding a doll in a detail of a photograph by his wife, Chinese artist Liu Xia on display at during a preview of "The Silent Strength of Liu Xia" exhibit at The Italian Academy in Columbia University in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 7 2012. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Protesters gather to demand the freedom of Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 outside the Chinese Embassy in Oslo, Norway. (AP Photo/John McConnico)
Year: 2009
According to the Nobel Prize, the former U.S. president was awarded ‘for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.’
Barack Obama speaks during his meeting with the 2016 American Nobel Prize winners in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Former U.S. president Barack Obama waves to the crowd following a speech before the Montreal Board of Trade Tuesday, June 6, 2017, in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Year: 2002
The former U.S. president received the award for ‘for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.’
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, right, receives the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize from chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Gunnar Berge, left, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002 at Oslo City Hall, Norway. (AP Photo/Bjoern Sigurdsoen)
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter speaks at a Duke University event at the Carter Center in Atlanta on February 15, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP — John Bazemore
Year: 2001
The United Nations and Kofi Annan were awarded jointly ‘for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world,’ says The Nobel Prize.
United Nations-Arab League special envoy to Syria Kofi Anan addresses the United Nations General Assembly on the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, Thursday, June 7, 2012 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Kofi Annan, Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for Syria, speaks during a press briefing, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday Aug. 2, 2012. (AP / Keystone, Martial Trezzini)
Year: 1998
John Hume, the Catholic leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and David Trimble, the Protestant leader of the Ulster Unionists, were honoured ‘for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
The 1998 Nobel Peace Prize winners John Hume, right, and David Trimble, at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Wednesday Dec. 9, 1998. (AP Photo/Jon Eeg)
David Trimble (L) and John Hume (R), 1998 Nobel Peace Prize. (Micheline Pelletier/Sygma via Getty Images)
Year: 1994
From left: Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin were awarded jointly for their ‘efforts to create peace in the Middle East,’ according to The Nobel Prize.
Nobel Foundation archive)
From Right: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat, the joint Nobel Peace Prize winners for 1994, in Olso, Norway. (Government Press Office via Getty Images)
Year: 1993
According to The Nobel Prize, the former South African president was awarded jointly with Frederik Willem de Klerk ‘for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.’
Nelson Mandela addresses the crowd during the South Africa Freedom Day concert in London's Trafalgar Square Sunday, April 29, 2001. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Former South African President Nelson Mandela lifts the World Cup trophy in Zurich, Switzerland, after FIFA's executive committee announced that South Africa would host the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, May 15, 2004. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Year: 1991
The politician and human rights activist, and daughter of Myanmar independence hero, General Aung San, was awarded ‘for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights,’ according to The Nobel Prize.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is surrounded by bodyguards and aides in the garden of her house during a press conference following her release earlier in the week after six years under house arrest, Rangoon, Burma on July 14, 1995. (AP Photo/Anat Givon)
Myanmar Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during her Election Awareness Tour in Hsihseng township in Pa-O self-administrative zone, southern Shan State, Myanmar on Sept. 5, 2015. (AP / Khin Maung Win)
Year: 1990
The final leader of the Soviet Union who opened his nation’s doors to the West was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for the leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations.’
Soviet president Mikhail S. Gorbachev receives applause from the audience in Oslo as he enters the lecture hall to deliver his long-delayed Nobel Peace lecture, June 5, 1991. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco, Monday, June 5, 1990. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)
Year: 1989
The 14th Dalai Lama was awarded ‘for advocating peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people,’ says The Nobel Prize.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama appears to be pondering a question during a fundraising luncheon with followers Sunday, June 25, 2000, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets devotees after attending his birthday celebrations in Leh, India on July 6, 2026. (Tenzin Choejor/AP via CNN Newsource)
Year: 1986
According to the Nobel Prize, the Romanian-born U.S. writer and Holocaust survivor was awarded ‘for being a messenger to mankind: his message is one of peace, atonement and dignity.’
Elie Wiesel listens to a question from the media during a press conference, March 17, 2005, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)
Elie Wiesel smiles during a news conference in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 10, 2009. (Bela Szandelszky/AP)
Year: 1984
Human rights activist Desmond Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for his role as a unifying leader figure in the non-violent campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa.’
Desmond Tutu greets a crowd of 10,000 people with his hands held high during a rally at the Greek Theater on the University of California at Berkeley, Calif., campus, May 14, 1985. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu gives the keynote address during the conference, As Long as the Rivers Flow: Coming Back to the Treaty Relationship in Our Time, in Fort McMurray, Alta. on Saturday May 31, 2014. (Jason Franson / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Year: 1983
The former Polish president won for 'non-violent struggle for free trade unions and human rights in Poland.'
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President of Poland Lech Walesa answers a question during a news conference Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001, at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Wisconsin State Journal, John Maniaci)
Former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa wearing a Poland scarf prior to the group B match between Austria and Poland in Vienna, Austria, June 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)
Year: 1979
According to the Nobel Prize, the nun won ‘for her work for bringing help to suffering humanity.’ Mother Teresa was declared a saint by Pope Francis in 2016.
Mother Theresa is greeted by a crowd during a visit to St. Paul, Alta., on June 25, 1982. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Buston
During her visit to St. Paul, Alberta, Mother Teresa was greeted by many of the children who sang songs for her and presented her with a basket of flowers, 1982. (CP PHOTO / Dave Buston)
Year: 1976
The Peace Prized was awarded jointly in 1976 for 'for the courageous efforts in founding a movement to put an end to the violent conflict in Northern Ireland.'
From left: Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams. (Nobel Prize)
Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan recite the Peace Pledge to thousands of supporters in Woodvale Park. (Leif Skoogfors/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Year: 1973
Henry A. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho won the prize 'for jointly having negotiated a cease fire in Vietnam in 1973', but Le Duc Tho declined the prize.
(Nobel Prize)
North Vietnamese leader Le Duc Tho and U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger at the Paris Peace Accords in Paris, France during the Vietnam War, January 1973. (Reg Lancaster/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Year: 1964
The civil rights activist was awarded ‘for his non-violent struggle for civil rights for the Afro-American population.’
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses marchers during his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Aug. 28, 1963. (AP Photo)
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, gestures during his I Have a Dream speech as he addresses thousands of civil rights supporters gathered in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963. (AP)
Year: 1957
The future prime minister of Canada got the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for his crucial contribution to the deployment of a United Nations Emergency Force in the wake of the Suez Crisis.’
Lester Pearson, Canada's former foreign secretary, displays the Nobel Peace Prize presented him a short time before in Oslo, Dec. 10, 1956. (AP Photo)
It’s considered one of the earliest examples of modern peacekeeping.
Queen Elizabeth II (left) looks down from atop the mini-rail at Expo 67 July 3, 1967, during her tour of the site with Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. (CP PHOTO/Stf)
Year: 1906
The former U.S. president won the prize 'for his role in bringing to an end the bloody war recently waged between two of the world's great powers, Japan and Russia.'
Theodore Roosevelt is seen in this undated photo.(Theodore Roosevelt Association)
Theodore Roosevelt is seen in this undated photo.
Year: 1905
Baroness Bertha von Suttner, the first woman to be awarded the Peace Prize, wrote one of the nineteenth century's most influential books, the anti-war novel 'Lay Down Your Arms. She won 'for her audacity to oppose the horrors of war.'
(Nobel Prize)
Bertha von Suttner in 1911. (ÖNB/Imagno/Getty Images)