Norwegian Nobel Committee
Encyclopedia
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize
each year.
Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.
died in December 1896, and in January 1897 the contents of his will
were unveiled. It was written as early as in 1895. In his will, it was declared that a Nobel Peace Prize
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
manages the assets. The other Nobel Prize
s were to be awarded by Swedish bodies (Swedish Academy
, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
, Karolinska Institutet
) 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The task of a parliament is to create and change laws whereas a will can not be changed unless the premises are clearly outdated.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. 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. The first Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 to Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy
. 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 Geir Lundestad
. Thorbjørn Jagland
has been the Norwegian Nobel Committee's leader since 2009.
List of secretaries
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
each year.
Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.
History
Alfred NobelAlfred Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He is the inventor of dynamite. Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments...
died in December 1896, and in January 1897 the contents of his will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
were unveiled. It was written as early as in 1895. In his will, it was declared that a Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
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
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....
manages the assets. The other Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
s were to be awarded by Swedish bodies (Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. The Academy is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization which acts to promote the sciences, primarily the natural sciences and mathematics.The Academy was founded on 2...
, Karolinska Institutet
Karolinska Institutet
Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities...
) 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
Fredrik Heffermehl
Fredrik Stang Heffermehl is a Norwegian jurist, writer and translator. He formerly worked as a lawyer and civil servant from 1965 to 1982 and as the first secretary-general of the Norwegian Humanist Association, from 1980 to 1982...
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. 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. The first Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 to Henri Dunant and Frédéric Passy
Frédéric Passy
Frédéric Passy was a French economist and a joint winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1901.- Biography :...
. 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
Ebbe Hertzberg
Ebbe Hertzberg was a Norwegian historian, economist and politician.He graduated as cand.jur. in 1870, and studied law history in Uppsala from 1870 and in Munich from 1872 to 1873. He was appointed professor of statistics and economy at the Christiania University in 1877...
) 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
Norwegian Nobel Institute
The Norwegian Nobel Institute was established in 1904 in Kristiania , Norway.The principal duty of the Nobel Institute is to assist the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the task of selecting the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and to organize the annual Nobel event in Oslo.The institute is situated...
, 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 Geir Lundestad
Geir Lundestad
Geir Lundestad is a Norwegian historian, who serves as the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. In this capacity, he also serves as the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. However, he is not a member of the committee itself....
. Thorbjørn Jagland
Thorbjørn Jagland
is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe...
has been the Norwegian Nobel Committee's leader since 2009.
List of Chairpersons
List of chairpersons- 1900–1901: Bernhard GetzBernhard GetzBernhard Getz was a Norwegian judge, professor, law reformer and politician for the Conservative Party.He was born in Trondhjem. From 1889 to 1901 he served as the first Norwegian Director of Public Prosecutions. He was Mayor of Kristiania from 1891 to 1892. He was a member of the Norwegian Nobel...
- 1901–1922: Jørgen LøvlandJørgen LøvlandJørgen Gunnarsson Løvland was a Norwegian politician and Prime Minister. He was Minister of Labour 1898-1899, 1900-1902 and 1902-1903, member of the Council of State Division in Stockholm 1899-1900, Prime Minister in Stockholm in 1905, Minister of Foreign Affairs 1905 and 1905-1907, Prime Minister...
- 1922–1922: Hans Jacob HorstHans Jacob HorstHans Jacob Horst was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He graduated with a master's degree in liberal arts in 1874, becoming a teacher and later principal. He became active in the Liberal Union and the Workers' Union in Tromsø in 1881, and was then elected to the municipal council. He...
- 1922–1941: Fredrik StangFredrik StangFredrik Stang was the Norwegian Minister of Justice 1912–1913. He was chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee 1922–1940.-Personal life:He was born in Kristiania as the son of Emil Stang and his wife Adelaide Pauline Berg...
- 1941–1943: Gunnar JahnGunnar JahnGunnar Jahn was a Norwegian jurist, economist, statistician, politician for the Liberal Party and resistance member...
- 1944–1945:
- 1945–1945: Carl Joachim Hambro
- 1945–1966: Gunnar JahnGunnar JahnGunnar Jahn was a Norwegian jurist, economist, statistician, politician for the Liberal Party and resistance member...
- 1967–1967: Nils LanghelleNils LanghelleNils Langhelle was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party and Minister of Labour 1945-1946, Norway's first Minister of Transport and Communications 1946-1951 and 1951–1952, Minister of Defense 1952-1954, Minister of Trade and Shipping 1954-1955 and President of the Storting from May 7, 1958...
- 1967–1967: Bernt IngvaldsenBernt IngvaldsenBernt Ingvaldsen was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party.He was born in Trondheim.He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from the Market towns of Buskerud county in 1950, and was re-elected on six occasions...
- 1968–1978: Aase LionæsAase LionæsAase Lionæs was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.She was born in Oslo.She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 1958, and was re-elected on four occasions...
- 1979–1981: John SannessJohn SannessJohn Christian Munthe Sanness was a Norwegian historian and politician for the Labour Party. He is known as the director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs from 1960 to 1983, professor at the University of Oslo from 1966 to 1983 and chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 1979...
- 1982–1989: Egil AarvikEgil AarvikEgil Aarvik was a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party. He was born in Børsa.-Career:He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 1961, and was re-elected on two occasions...
- 1990–1990: Gidske AndersonGidske AndersonGidske Anderson was a Norwegian journalist and a member of the Labour Party. She worked for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and then the newspaper Arbeiderbladet in Paris. from 1964 to 1967 she was a freelance journalist in the United States...
- 1991–1999: Francis SejerstedFrancis SejerstedFrancis Sejersted is a Norwegian history professor and former chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.Sejersted was educated in history as well as nordic language and literature at the University of Oslo and achieved a candidatus philologiæ in 1965 and a doctorate in 1973.From 1971 to 1973...
- 2000–2002: Gunnar BergeGunnar BergeGunnar Berge is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, born in Etne, Hordaland. Berge represented Rogaland in the Norwegian Parliament from 1969 to 1993. He was Minister of Finance 1986-1989, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development 1992-1996, as well as minister of Nordic...
- 2003–2008: Ole Danbolt MjøsOle Danbolt MjøsOle Danbolt Mjøs is a Norwegian physician and politician for the Christian Democratic Party. A professor and former rector at the University of Tromsø, he is known worldwide as the leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 2003 to 2008....
- 2009–present: Thorbjørn JaglandThorbjørn Jaglandis a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe...
List of secretaries
- 1901–1909: Christian Lous LangeChristian Lous LangeChristian Lous Lange was a Norwegian historian, teacher, and political scientist. He was one of the world's foremost exponents of the theory and practice of internationalism....
- 1910–1945: Ragnvald MoeRagnvald MoeRagnvald Moe was a Norwegian historian.He was born in Bergen, and took the cand.philol. degree in 1900. He worked as amanuensis at the University Library of Oslo from 1904 to 1909, then as a secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 1909, and was director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute...
- 1946–1973: August SchouAugust SchouAugust Julius Casse Schou was a Norwegian historian.He was born in Christiania, and was a brother of Aage Casse Schou. He was director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute and secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee from 1946 to 1973.-References:...
- 1974–1977: Tim GreveTim GreveTim Greve was a Norwegian historian, civil servant, diplomatist, newspaper editor and biographer.-Personal life:...
- 1978–1989: Jakob SverdrupJakob Sverdrup (historian)-Personal life:He was born in Bergen as a son of the professor of religious studies Georg Johan Sverdrup . He was a nephew of philologist Jakob Sverdrup, a first cousin once removed of Harald Ulrik Sverdrup and Leif Sverdrup, a grandson of Jakob Liv Rosted Sverdrup, a great-grandson of Harald Ulrik...
- 1990–present: Geir LundestadGeir LundestadGeir Lundestad is a Norwegian historian, who serves as the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. In this capacity, he also serves as the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. However, he is not a member of the committee itself....
Current members
(as of October 2009)- Thorbjørn JaglandThorbjørn Jaglandis a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, currently serving as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe...
(chair, born 1950), former Member of Parliament and President of the Storting and former Prime Minister for the Labour PartyNorwegian Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
, current Secretary General of the Council of EuropeCouncil of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
. Member and chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2009. - Kaci Kullmann FiveKaci Kullmann FiveKarin Cecilie Kullmann Five is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party, and a business professional. She was born Karin Cecilie Kullmann in Bærum and was educated in law, French language and political science at University of Oslo in 1981...
(deputy chair, born 1951), former member of Parliament and cabinet minister for the Conservative PartyConservative Party of NorwayThe Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...
. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2003, deputy chair since 2009. - Sissel RønbeckSissel RønbeckSissel Marie Rønbeck is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She was Minister of Administration and Consumer Affairs 1979-1981, Minister of Environmental Affairs 1986-1989, and Minister of Transport and Communications 1996-1997. Between 1981 and 1993 she was a parliamentary representative...
(born 1950), deputy director, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural HeritageNorwegian Directorate for Cultural HeritageThe Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it manages the Cultural Heritage Act of June 9, 1978....
(Riksantikvaren), former member of parliament and cabinet minister for the Labour PartyNorwegian Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 1994. - Inger-Marie YtterhornInger-Marie YtterhornInger-Marie Ytterhorn is a Norwegian politician for the Progress Party.She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hordaland in 1989, but was not re-elected in 1993...
(born 1941), former member of Parliament for the Progress PartyProgress Party (Norway)The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...
. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2000. - Ågot ValleÅgot ValleÅgot Jorunn Valle is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party . She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hordaland in 1997....
(born 1945), former member of parliament for the Socialist Left PartySocialist Left Party (Norway)The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...
. Member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2009.
External links
- Norwegian Nobel Committee – official site
- Nobel Prize – official site