Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
She was recognized for her dedicated efforts in fighting against the oppression of women in Iran and her unwavering commitment to advancing human rights and freedom for all.
Over the past two years, the Nobel Peace Prize has been presented to human rights activists in various countries, including Belarus, the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine.
The Nobel Peace Prize was originally established by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, businessman, and philanthropist, in 1901. Nobel accumulated his wealth through the invention of dynamite and other explosives.
Narges Mohammadi’s courageous work has come at a considerable personal cost, as she has spent a significant portion of the last two decades imprisoned. Born in Zanjan, Iran, in 1972, she began advocating for women’s rights and gender equality during her time as a physics student in the 1990s.
This week also saw the announcement of Nobel Prize winners in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, and literature, while the prize for economic sciences is scheduled to be revealed on Monday.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 103 times to 140 laureates between 1901 and 2022, with recipients including 110 individuals and 30 organizations. The Norwegian Nobel Committee annually awards Nobel Prizes in six distinct categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economic sciences.
Notably, of the peace prize recipients, 18 have been women. The youngest laureate ever was Malala Yousafzai, an education activist from Pakistan, who received the award in 2014 at the age of 17. The oldest peace laureate was Joseph Rotblat, who was 87 years old when he received the prize in 1995.
