The Four Freedoms Award is an annual award presented to "those men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles which US President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed in his Four Freedoms speech to the United States Congress on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: "freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear". The annual award is handed out in alternate years in New York City by the Roosevelt Institute to Americans and in Middelburg, Netherlands, by the Roosevelt Stichting to non-Americans.
History
The awards were first presented in 1982 on the centennial of President Roosevelt's birth as well as the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Netherlands. The awards were founded to celebrate the Four Freedoms espoused by President Roosevelt in his speech: Freedom of speech Freedom of worship Freedom from want Freedom from fear
For each of the four freedoms, an award was instituted, as well as a special Freedom medal. In 1990, 1995, 2003, and 2004, there were also special awards.
In odd years, the awards are presented to American citizens or institutions by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in New York City, though in the past, the American awards were given in Hyde Park, New York. In even years, the award ceremony is held in Middelburg and honors non-Americans. The choice of Middelburg was motivated by the suspected descent of the family Roosevelt from Oud-Vossemeer in the municipality Tholen.
Laureates Freedom Medal
Year Middelburg Photo Year Hyde Park Photo 1982 Princess Juliana of the Netherlands 1983 W. Averell Harriman 1984 Harold Macmillan 1985 Claude Pepper 1986 Alessandro Pertini 1987 Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. 1988 Helmut Schmidt 1989 William J. Brennan, Jr. 1990 Václav Havel and Jacques Delors 1991 Thurgood Marshall 1992 Javier Pérez de Cuéllar 1993 Cyrus Vance 1994 Dalai Lama 1995 Jimmy Carter 1996 Juan Carlos I of Spain 1997 Katharine Meyer Graham 1998 Mary Robinson 1999 Edward M. Kennedy 2000 Martti Ahtisaari 2001 W.W. II veterans as represented by Richard Winters (U.S. Army) Robert Eugene Bush (U.S. Navy) William T. Ketcham (U.S. Marine Corps) Lee A. Archer, Jr. (U.S. Air Force) Ellen Buckley (U.S. Navy Nurse Corps) 2002 Nelson Mandela 2003 George J. Mitchell 2004 Kofi Annan 2005 Bill Clinton 2006 Mohamed ElBaradei 2007 Carl Levin and Richard Lugar 2008 Richard von Weizsäcker 2009 Hillary Clinton 2010 European Court of Human Rights 2011 Russ Feingold 2012 Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 2013 Wendell Berry 2014 Red Cross 2015 Ruth Bader Ginsburg 2016 Angela Merkel 2017 Harry Belafonte 2018 Christiana Figueres as representative of the Paris Climate Agreement 2019 Lonnie Bunch 2020 United Nations 2021 Fred Korematsu 2022 Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya 2023 Nancy Pelosi 2024 Save Ukraine 2025 Darren Walker2026 Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people 2027
Freedom of Speech
Year Middelburg Year Hyde Park1982 Max van der Stoel 1983 Joseph L. Rauh, Jr.1984 Amnesty International 1985 Kenneth B. Clark1986 El País 1987 Herbert Block1988 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 1989 Walter Cronkite1990 No Award 1991 James Reston1992 Mstislav Rostropovich 1993 Arthur Miller1994 Marion Dönhoff 1995 Mary McGrory1996 John Hume 1997 Sidney R. Yates1998 CNN 1999 John Lewis2000 Bronisław Geremek 2001 The New York Times and the Ochs/Sulzberger Family2002 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 2003 Studs Terkel2004 Lennart Meri 2005 Tom Brokaw2006 Carlos Fuentes 2007 Bill Moyers2008 Lakhdar Brahimi 2009 Anthony Romero2010 Novaya Gazeta 2011 Michael J. Copps2012 Al Jazeera 2013 Paul Krugman2014 Maryam Durani 2015 Arthur Mitchell2016 Mazen Darwish 2017 Dan Rather2018 Erol Önderoğlu 2019 The Boston Globe2020 Maria Ressa 2021 Nikole Hannah-Jones2022 Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi 2023 Tracie Hall2024 Bellingcat 2025 Teen Vogue2026 Committee to Protect Journalists 2027
Freedom of Worship
Year Middelburg Year Hyde Park1982 Willem A. Visser 't Hooft 1983 Coretta Scott King1984 Werner Leich and Christiann F. Beyers Naudé 1985 Elie Wiesel1986 Bernardus Alfrink 1987 Leon Sullivan1988 Teddy Kollek 1989 Raphael Lemkin (posthumously) and Hyman Bookbinder1990 László Tőkés 1991 Paul Moore, Jr.1992 Terry Waite 1993 Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC1994 Gerhart M Riegner 1995 Andrew Young1996 Lord Runcie 1997 William H. Gray1998 Desmond Tutu 1999 Corinne C. Boggs2000 Cicely Saunders 2001 Johnnie Carr2002 Nasr Abu Zayd 2003 Robert F. Drinan2004 Sari Nusseibeh 2005 Cornel West2006 Taizé Community 2007 Peter J. Gomes2008 Karen Armstrong 2009 Eboo Patel2010 Asma Jahangir 2011 Rev. Barry W. Lynn2012 Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople 2013 Simone Campbell2014 Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan 2015 Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II2016 Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Omar Kobine Layama and Nicolas Guérékoyame-Gbangou 2017 Rev. Dr. Steve Stone and Dr. Bashar A. Shala2018 Paride Taban 2019 Krista Tippett2020 Religions for Peace International 2021 Raphael Warnock2022 Lian Gogali 2023 Dr. Walter Earl Fluker2024 Zumretay Arkin 2025 Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis2026 (not disclosed for security reasons) 2027
Freedom from Want
Year Middelburg Year Hyde Park1982 H. Johannes Witteveen 1983 Robert S. McNamara1984 Liv Ullmann 1985 John Kenneth Galbraith1986 F. Bradford Morse 1987 Mary Lasker1988 Halfdan T. Mahler 1989 Dorothy I. Height1990 Emile van Lennep 1991 Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward1992 Jan Tinbergen 1993 Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver1994 Sadako Ogata 1995 Lane Kirkland1996 Médecins Sans Frontières 1997 Mark O. Hatfield1998 Stéphane Hessel 1999 George S. McGovern2000 M. S. Swaminathan 2001 March of Dimes2002 Gro Harlem Brundtland 2003 Dolores Huerta2004 Marguerite Barankitse 2005 Marsha J. Evans2006 Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank 2007 Barbara Ehrenreich2008 Jan Egeland 2009 Vicki Escarra2010 Maurice Strong 2011 Jacqueline Novogratz2012 Ela Bhatt 2013 Coalition of Immokalee Workers2014 Hawa Abdi Diblaawe 2015 Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade2016 Dr. Denis Mukwege 2017 Ai-jen Poo2018 Emmanuel de Merode 2019 Franklin A. Thomas2020 2021 Deepak Bhargava2022 Nice Nailantei Leng'ete 2023 Ady Barkan2024 Sônia Guajajara 2025 World Central Kitchen2026 Isidora Uribe Silva 2027
Freedom from Fear
Year Middelburg Year Hyde Park1982 J. Herman van Roijen 1983 Jacob K. Javits1984 Brian Urquhart 1985 Isidor Rabi1986 Olof Palme (posthumously) 1987 George Kennan1988 Armand Hammer 1989 J. William Fulbright1990 Simon Wiesenthal 1991 Mike Mansfield1992 Lord Carrington 1993 George Ball1994 Zdravko Grebo 1995 Elliot Richardson1996 Shimon Peres 1997 Daniel K. Inouye1998 Craig Kielburger 1999 Robert O. Muller2000 Louise Arbour 2001 W.W. II veterans as represented by Richard Winters (U.S. Army) Robert E. Bush (U.S. Navy) William T. Ketcham (U.S. Marine Corps) Lee A. Archer, Jr. (U.S. Air Force) Ellen Buckley (U.S. Army Nurse Corps)2002 Ernesto Zedillo 2003 Robert C. Byrd2004 Max Kohnstamm 2005 Lee H. Hamilton and Thomas Kean2006 Aung San Suu Kyi 2007 Brent Scowcroft2008 Willemijn Verloop - War Child 2009 Pasquale J. D'Amuro2010 Gareth Evans 2011 Bryan A. Stevenson2012 Hussain al-Shahristani 2013 Ameena Matthews2014 Malala Yousafzai 2015 The Nation2016 Human Rights Watch 2017 Cristina Jiménez Moreta2018 Urmila Chaudhary 2019 Sandy Hook Promise2020 Leoluca Orlando 2021 Worker Rights Activists for the Excluded Workers Fund2022 ÜniKuir 2023 Bennie Thompson2024 Grace Forrest 2025 Center for Victims of Torture2026 Gisèle Pelicot 2027
Special presentations 1984 Simone Veil (Centennial Award)2002 William vanden Heuvel2005 BBC World Service1990 Mikhail Gorbachev2003 Arthur Schlesinger Jr.2005 Mary Soames1995 Jonas Salk2004 Anton Rupert2006 Mike Wallace1995 Ruud Lubbers2004 Bob Dole2008 Forrest Church
See also
Four Freedoms Monument William O. Douglas Prize List of religion-related awards
References Roosevelt Institute, List of laureates NOS (2008) TV documentary on the Four Freedoms Award Oosthoek, A.L. (2010) Roosevelt in Middelburg: the four freedoms awards 1982-2008, American Rhetoric, Four Freedoms Speech of Roosevelt
External links
Four Freedoms Monument Roosevelt Institute website