Albert Einstein Peace Prize


The Albert Einstein Peace Prize is/was a peace prize awarded annually since 1980 by the Albert Einstein Peace Prize Foundation. The Foundation dates from 1979, the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein, and evokes the Russell–Einstein Manifesto which urges nuclear disarmament. It was established, with the sponsorship of the trustees of Einstein's estate, by William M. Swartz a wealthy businessman and the grandfather of activist Aaron Swartz. William M. Swartz was involved in the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and established the Foundation in part to support Pugwash. Prize winners, mainly active in nuclear disarmament, receive $50,000.
YearWinnerNotesRefs
1980Alva MyrdalFor "her outspoken insistence on action by the great powers toward control over their nuclear competition and for her major contributions to the achievement of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1969, and agreements prohibiting the deployment of nuclear weapons on the seabed and in space."
1981George F. Kennan"For his continuing efforts to reduce tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and the world in general." Kennan had not heard of the prize when informed he had won it. His conferral ceremony was attended by members of the Reagan administration and Anatoly Dobrynin.
1982McGeorge Bundy, Robert McNamara, Gerard C. SmithJoint award for opposing pre-emptive nuclear strikes
1983Joseph Bernardinfor his part in drafting the U.S. bishops' pastoral letter calling for new arms agreements
1984Pierre Trudeaufor working to promote disarmament
1985Willy Brandt
1986Olof PalmeAwarded posthumously for "wide-ranging efforts on behalf of peace"
1988Andrei Sakharov
1990Mikhail Gorbachev
1992Joseph Rotblat and Hans BetheConferred at a conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of Chicago Pile-1.