The Norwegian Nobel Institute was set up in 1904 to aid the Nobel Committee to vet candidates. While the institute keeps nominees’ names secret for 50 years, the process of submitting candidates often leads to the disclosure of potential winners. Members of national assemblies and governments, international courts, university rectors, as well as active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee are among those who can suggest nominees, and names of individuals and organizations who are nominated, usually leak out.
2009 Nobel Prize Announcements
The 2009 Nobel Prize announcements in will take place in early October. This year the Nobel Organizers are going the social media route to involve more public involvement in the whole process. There will be Nobel Action on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Each 2009 Nobel Prize will amount to 10 million Swedish kronor (2008: 10 million Swedish kronor). The sum of the Nobel Prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace) is 50 million Swedish kronor.
Nobel Prize Announcements Start October 5
The Nobel Foundation will announce the 2009 Nobel Prizes as well as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel starting on Monday, October 5th, with The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 and on Wednesday October 7th, the Nobel prize in Chemistry. These three Prizes will all be presented in Stockholm, Sweden.
Nobel Peace Price 2009 – Announcement Friday October 9
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is responsible for selecting the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. The Committee is composed of five members appointed by the Storting (Norwegain Parliament). On Friday, October 9, 2009, the Nobel Peace Price will be announced in Oslo, Norway.
According to nobelprize.org, 205 names were submitted for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, 33 of which are organizations, the highest number of nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize ever.
The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, for which there were 197 nominees, was awarded to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari who was recognized for mediating in a number of international conflicts.
The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was shared by former US Vice-President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work to raise awareness of global warming.
Obama and Sarkozy Nominees for 2009 Peace Prize
Nominees believed to be on the 2009 Nobel Prize list are US President Barack Obama and French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Other known contenders for this year's prize include former French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt and Chinese dissident Hu Jia, who was also a front-runner in 2008.
According to france24.com, The Cluster Munitions Coalition is also known to be on the list after it played a central role in getting nearly 100 countries to sign a treaty last year in Oslo banning cluster bombs.
Other nominees are believed to be:
- Macedonian humanitarian and artist Zivko Popovski-Cvetin, nominated by the Macedonian government
- Austrian children's charity SOS-Kinderdorf International, put forward by the Austrian government
- American Greg Mortenson, nominated by six members of the U.S. Congress for his Asian school building charity
- Vietnamese religious leader Thich Quang Do, put forward when a campaign recruited lawmakers to nominate him
- American musician Pete Seeger.
The name of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner will be announced on Friday 9 October 2009, and the award will be presented at a formal ceremony held -- as tradition dictates -- on 10 December 2009.
Karen Lotter - Karen Lotter is a journalist and writer based in Durban, South Africa. She has written profiles, features, advertising copy, ...
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