Khaberni - On Friday, Venezuelan Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize, which is considered the most prestigious international award.
Chemist Alfred Nobel considered himself a lover of peace, but his invention of dynamite in 1867 and his dedication to the explosives industry, combined with the establishment of 90 arms factories, earned him a reputation he did not cherish, as he was dubbed the "merchant of death".
In expression of his remorse after a French newspaper mistakenly titled him "The Merchant of Death", he decided to allocate 94% of his wealth (31 million Swedish kronor) to fund awards for achievements that serve humanity in five areas, without discrimination based on gender or nationality.
Here, we list the names of the Nobel Peace Prize winners of the last ten years:
2025: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
2024: Nihon Heidan Kyo group of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors.
2023: Imprisoned Iranian activist and journalist Narges Mohammadi who was rewarded for "her struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and her efforts to promote human rights and freedom for all".
2022: Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski and the non-governmental organizations "Memorial" from Russia and "Center for Civil Liberties" from Ukraine.
2021: Journalists Maria Ressa (Philippines) and Dmitry Muratov (Russia) for "valiantly defending press freedom".
2020: The United Nations World Food Programme for "its efforts in combating hunger worldwide".
2019: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed "for his efforts in establishing peace", specifically "his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with Eritrea".
2018: Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Yazidi Nadia Murad, in recognition of their efforts to combat sexual violence used in conflicts around the world.
2017: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) for its contribution to the adoption of a historic treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
2016: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his commitment to ending the armed conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The Nobel Prize is considered the most prestigious international award and was established following the will of the Swedish scientist, engineer, and industrialist Alfred Nobel, known for his discovery of dynamite.
In his will written in 1895, Nobel instructed that most of his wealth be allocated to establish annual prizes awarded to those "who have conferred the greatest benefit to humanity" during the preceding year.
The Nobel Prizes were first awarded in 1901 in honor of outstanding achievements in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
In 1968, the Swedish Central Bank "Sveriges Riksbank" established the Economics Sciences Prize in memory of Nobel, adding it to the list of categories awarded, making a total of six categories honored.
