The World Peace Council (WPC), a pro-Soviet non-governmental organization, has awarded a number of prizes, beginning in 1950. These have been awarded to individuals, organisations, peoples, and places. Typically, several winners would be voted at one WPC congress; these, or their representative, would receive their prize at a later congress, or from a WPC delegation. Extra prizes were awarded in 1959 and 1964, to mark the WPC's 10th and 15th anniversaries.
The awards include: International Peace Prize established at the first World Congress of Peace held in April 1949, in Paris. The original 1949 regulations envisaged prizes for art, literature, film, or industrial work which advanced the cause of peace among nations. In 1951, the WPC recategorised three distinct awards: International Peace Prize, last awarded in 1957. Honorary International Peace Prize, for posthumous award. Medal of Peace, renamed in 1959 the Joliot-Curie Medal of Peace, in honour of Frédéric Joliot-Curie, who led the WPC till his death in 1958. This medal has been awarded in silver, but the highest WPC honour is the gold medal. Ho Chi Minh Award, a leadership award established in honour of Ho Chi Minh (not to be confused with the Ho Chi Minh Prizes awarded by the Vietnamese government). Amilcar Cabral Award, established in 1973 in honour of Amílcar Cabral, for contributions to "the struggle against imperialism and colonialism". (The Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau governments also award Amilcar Cabral prizes.)
The WPC was allied with the Soviet Union and followed its foreign policy line during the Cold War. Some recipients of its prizes have also won the Lenin Peace Prize, a separate prize awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government.
List of award winners Date Awardee Type Country Award Notes Refs 1950 Person Czechoslovakia Honorary International Peace Prize Posthumous. 1950 Person Spain International Peace Prize 1950 Person Chile International Peace Prize 1950 Person United States International Peace Prize 1950 Person Turkey International Peace Prize 1950 Person Poland International Peace Prize For her 1948 film Ostatni etap ("The Last Stage") 1950 Person Brazil Gold Medal 1950 Person France Gold Medal 1950 Person Romania Gold Medal 1950 Person Italy Gold Medal 1950 Person Czechoslovakia Gold Medal 1950 Person France Gold Medal 1950 Al-Tariq Work Lebanon Gold Medal Journal. 1950 Iunost' mira (Юность мира, "Youth of the World") Work Soviet Union / Hungary Gold Medal Documentary about the 1949 World Youth Festival in Budapest. 1950 Warsaw Place Poland Honorary International Peace Prize An exceptional award to the city as "a symbol of peaceful restoration". 1953 Person Bulgaria Honorary International Peace Prize Posthumous award. 1953 Person Mexico International Peace Prize Member of the Comite por la Paz Mexicano 1953 Person India International Peace Prize 1953 Person United States International Peace Prize Won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1959. 1953 Person France International Peace Prize 1953 Person Iceland International Peace Prize 1953 Person Germany DR International Peace Prize For directing Das verurteilte Dorf ("The condemned village"). 1953 Person Germany DR International Peace Prize For co-writing Das verurteilte Dorf ("The condemned village"). 1953 Person Germany DR International Peace Prize For co-writing Das verurteilte Dorf ("The condemned village"). 1953 Person France Gold Medal 1953 Person Czechoslovakia Gold Medal 1953 Person Australia Gold Medal For his novel The Diplomat. 1953 Person Brazil Gold Medal For his orchestral work Canto de Amor e Paz. 1953 Person Argentina Gold Medal 1953 Person Japan Gold Medal For Hiroshima panels 1953 Person Japan Gold Medal For Hiroshima panels 1953 Person Iran Gold Medal 1953 Person France Gold Medal 1953 Person Romania Gold Medal For sculpture "Korean partisans" 1953 Carlos Augusto León Person Venezuela Gold Medal 1953 Person Colombia Gold Medal 1953 Person Finland Gold Medal For statue entitled "Peace". 1954 Person United Kingdom International Peace Prize 1954 Person Soviet Union International Peace Prize 1955 Person Hungary Honorary International Peace Prize Posthumous award 1955 Person France International Peace Prize 1955 Person Netherlands International Peace Prize 1955 Person Italy International Peace Prize 1955 Person Brazil International Peace Prize 1956 Person France Honorary International Peace Prize Posthumous award 1956 Person United States International Peace Prize 1956 Person China PR International Peace Prize 1956 Person Greece International Peace Prize 1957 Person United Kingdom International Peace Prize Refused award. 1957 Person China PR Joliot-Curie medal 1959 Person Greece Joliot-Curie gold medal 1959 Person Goa Gold medal Posthumous award 1959 Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation Organisation International Gold medal 1959 Mouvement de la Paix Organisation France Gold medal 1959 Czechoslovak Peace Committee Organisation Czechoslovakia Gold medal 1959 Person Soviet Union Gold medal 1959 Person Romania Gold medal 1959 Person Lebanon Gold medal 1959 Person Chile Gold medal 1959 Person Canada Gold medal 1959 Person Soviet Union silver medal 1959 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie silver medal 1959 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie silver medal 1959 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie silver medal ? Person Soviet Union Silver medal 1959 Person Australia Medal 1959 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie silver medal 1959 Person Australia Joliot-Curie silver medal 1959 Person India Joliot-Curie silver medal 1959 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie silver medal 1959 Person Cuba Joliot-Curie silver medal 1960 Person Italy Gold medal 1960 Person Germany FR Gold medal 1960 Person Germany FR Gold medal 1960 Person Germany FR Gold medal 1960 Person Germany FR Jubilee Silver medal 1960 Person Germany FR Jubilee Silver medal 1960 Person Germany FR Jubilee Silver medal 1960 Person Germany FR Jubilee Silver medal 1960 Person Soviet Union Medal 1961 Person Soviet Union Gold medal Marking his 70th birthday. 1961 Person France Gold medal Marking her 80th birthday. 1961 World Federation of Democratic Youth Organisation International Gold medal ? Political prisoners in Francoist Spain Persons Spain Gold medal ? Person Soviet Union Grand Silver medal ? Person Soviet Union Medal ? Person Mexico Joliot-Curie medal 1963 Person Greece Gold medal 1963 Person Greece Gold medal Posthumous award 1963 Person Kenya Gold medal 1964 Person Spain Gold medal Posthumous award. 1964 Person Iraq Gold medal Posthumous award. 1964 Person Algeria Gold medal Posthumous award. 1964 Person Hungary Gold medal Marking his 75th birthday. 1964 Person Italy Gold medal 1964 Person Germany DR Gold medal 1964 Person Germany FR Gold medal 1964 Person Germany FR Gold medal 1964 Person United Kingdom Gold medal 1964 Person Poland Gold medal 1964 Person Cyprus Gold medal 1964 Person Argentina Gold medal 1964 Person Venezuela Gold medal 1964 Person France Gold medal 1964 Person Soviet Union / Poland Gold medal 1964 Person Soviet Union Gold medal 1964 Person Soviet Union Gold medal 1964 Hiroshima Place Japan Gold medal 1964 Nagasaki Place Japan Gold medal 1964 Person South Africa Joliot-Curie gold medal 1964 Person Poland Joliot-Curie gold medal 1965 Person Egypt Gold medal 1965 Person Sudan Gold medal 1965 & A. M. Dickie Person Australia Joliot-Curie gold medal 1965 Person Australia Joliot-Curie gold medal 1966 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie gold medal 1966 Person Angola Joliot-Curie medal Chandra 1980, p.171 1966 Person Cuba Joliot-Curie gold medal 1968 Person Chile Joliot-Curie gold medal 1969 Person Hungary Joliot-Curie medal 1969 Person Mongolia Joliot-Curie medal Asia yearbook 1972, p.228 1969 Person United Kingdom Joliot-Curie medal 1969 Person Peru Joliot-Curie medal Posthumous award. 1970 Person India Joliot-Curie medal Posthumous award. 1971 Person United States Joliot-Curie gold medal Posthumous award, accepted by Ralph Abernathy of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 1971 Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Organisation Poland Joliot-Curie gold medal 1972 Person Guinea-Bissau / Cape Verde Joliot-Curie medal 1972 Person Cuba Joliot-Curie gold medal 1972 Person Mongolia Joliot-Curie gold medal Asia Yearbook 1972, p.221 1972 Person Egypt Joliot-Curie medal Posthumous award. 1972 Person Chile Joliot-Curie gold medal 1972 Coalition for Peace and Justice Organisation United States Joliot-Curie medal 1972 Organization of African Unity Organisation International Joliot-Curie medal 1972 "the people of Lao fighting for independence and freedom" Place Laos Joliot-Curie medal 1973 Person Belgium Joliot-Curie gold medal 1973 Person Bangladesh Joliot-Curie gold medal For his contribution to the establishment of world peace. 1974 Person Poland Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 Person Finland Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 Person Palestine Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 Person Cyprus Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 Government of North Vietnam Organisation Vietnam DR Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 Government of South Vietnam Organisation Vietnam Rep Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid Organisation International Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation Organisation International Joliot-Curie gold medal 1975 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie gold medal Considered a riposte to Andrei Sakharov's 1975 Nobel Peace Prize. 1976 Person Mozambique Joliot-Curie gold medal Chandra 1980, p.181 1977 Vietnam Place Vietnam Joliot-Curie medal Presented to Nguyễn Hữu Thọ. The Vietnamese government had earlier awarded the WPC its Friendship Order. 1977 World Marxist Review Work Czechoslovakia 1977 Person Romania Joliot-Curie medal The award was delayed by Soviet objections, but pushed through by Indira Gandhi. 1978 Person Ethiopia Joliot-Curie gold medal 1979 Person Laos Joliot-Curie gold medal 1979 Person Jamaica Joliot-Curie gold medal 1980 Person Kampuchea Joliot-Curie medal 1980 Person Palestine Ho Chi Minh award 1980 Person Cuba Medal 1981 Sandinista National Liberation Front Organisation Nicaragua Ho Chi Minh award 1981 Person Uruguay Joliot-Curie gold medal 1983 Person India Joliot-Curie gold medal Director of the UN Centre against Apartheid 1983 Person Nigeria Joliot-Curie gold medal Chairman of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid 1985 Person United States Joliot-Curie gold medal 1986 African National Congress Organisation South Africa Ho Chi Minh award Accepted by Oliver Tambo. 1986 Person Namibia Ho Chi Minh award 1986 Bratislava Place Czechoslovakia Town of Peace 1988 Person Tanzania Joliot-Curie medal 1988 Person Soviet Union Joliot-Curie gold medal 1989 Person Nicaragua Joliot-Curie gold medal ? Person Jamaica Joliot-Curie medal
In 2002, the WPC denied news reports that it had given a prize to Meles Zenawi.
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