This is a list of all the 31 heads of state and heads of government who have received the Nobel Prize. Except Winston Churchill who received the Literature Prize, all the others were awarded with a Peace Prize.
Nobel Peace Prize laureates
PortraitNobel LaureateYearCountryStatusRationaleTheodore Roosevelt(1858–1919)190626th President of the United States( – )For his role in bringing to an end the bloody war recently waged between two of the world's great powers, Japan and Russia.Auguste Beernaert(1829–1912)1909Prime Minister of Belgium( – )For their prominent position in the international movement for peace and arbitration. (Jointly awarded to another leading figure French politician Paul Henri d'Estournelles de Constant) Woodrow Wilson(1856–1924)191928th President of the United States( – )For his role as founder of the League of Nations.Léon Bourgeois(1851–1925)1920Prime Minister of France( – )For his longstanding contribution to the cause of peace and justice and his prominent role in the establishment of the League of Nations.Hjalmar Branting(1860–1925)1921Prime Minister of Sweden( – )( – )( – )For their lifelong contributions to the cause of peace and organized internationalism. (Jointly awarded with another non–leading figure Norwegian political scientist Christian Lange)Aristide Briand(1862–1932) 1926Prime Minister of France( – )( – )( – )( – )( – )( – )For their crucial role in bringing about the Locarno Treaty. (Jointly awarded to two world leaders Aristide Briand and Gustav Stresemann)Gustav Stresemann(1878–1929)Chancellor of Germany (Weimar Republic)( – )Lester Bowles Pearson(1897–1972)195714th Prime Minister of Canada( – )For his crucial contribution to the deployment of a United Nations Emergency Force in the wake of the Suez Crisis.Willy Brandt(1913–1992)1971Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany( – )For paving the way for a meaningful dialogue between East and West.Eisaku Sato(1901–1975)1974Prime Minister of Japan( – )For his contribution to stabilize conditions in the Pacific rim area and for signing the Nuclear Non–Proliferation Treaty. (Jointly awarded to another leading figure Irish politician of different cause Seán MacBride)Anwar Sadat(1918–1981)1978 3rd President of Egypt( – )For jointly having negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978. (Jointly awarded to two world leaders Muhammad Anwar el–Sadat and Menachem Begin)Menachem Begin(1913–1992) 6th Prime Minister of Israel( – )Lech Wałęsa(born 1943)1983President of Poland(– )For non–violent struggle for free trade unions and human rights in Poland.Óscar Arias(born 1940)198740th President of Costa Rica( – )
45th President of Costa Rica( – )For his work for lasting peace in Central America.Mikhail Gorbachev(1931–2022) 1990Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union( – )
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union( – )
President of the Soviet Union( – )For the leading role he played in the radical changes in East–West relations.Aung San Suu Kyi(born 1945)1991State Counsellor of Myanmar( – )For her non–violent struggle for democracy and human rights.Frederik Willem de Klerk(1936–2021)19937th State President of South Africa( – )For their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa. (Jointly awarded to two world leaders Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk)Nelson Mandela(1918–2013)19931st President of South Africa( – )Yitzhak Rabin(1922–1995)1994 5th Prime Minister of Israel( – )( – )For their efforts to create peace in the Middle East. (Jointly awarded to three world leaders Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres)Yasser Arafat(1929–2004)1st President of the Palestinian National Authority( – ) 1st President of the State of Palestine( – )Shimon Peres(1923–2016)Acting Prime Minister of Israel( – )
8th Prime Minister of Israel( – )( – )
9th President of Israel( – )José Ramos Horta(born 1949)Currently in office19963rd Prime Minister of Timor-Leste( – )
4th President of Timor-Leste( – )( – )
7th President of Timor-Leste( – )For their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in Timor-Leste. (Jointly awarded with another non–leading figure East Timorese priest Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo)Kim Dae–jung(1924–2009)20008th President of the Republic of Korea( – )For his work for democracy and human rights in South Korea and in East Asia in general, and for peace and reconciliation with North Korea in particular.Jimmy Carter(1924–2024)200239th President of the United States( – )For his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.Muhammad Yunus(born 1940) (interim leader)20065th Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh( – )For their efforts to create economic and social development from below. (Jointly awarded with another corporation Bangladeshi Grameen Bank)Martti Ahtisaari(1937–2023)200810th President of Finland( – )For his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.Barack Obama(born 1961)2009 44th President of the United States( – )For his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.Ellen Johnson Sirleaf(born 1938)2011 24th President of Liberia( – )For their non–violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace–building work. (Jointly awarded with an two other activists Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni Tawakkul Karman)Juan Manuel Santos(born 1951)201632th President of Colombia( – )For his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50–year–long civil war to an end.Abiy Ahmed(born 1976)Currently in office2019Prime Minister of Ethiopia( – )For his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
Nobel Laurates for Literature PortraitNobel LaureateYearCountryStatusRationaleWinston Churchill(1874–1965)1953Prime Minister of the United Kingdom( – )( – )For his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.
Government In Exile
PortraitNobel LaureatePrizeYearCountryStatusRationaleTenzin Gyatso,14th Dalai Lama(born 1935) Peace1989Claimed Head of State of Tibet( – )Head of the Tibetan Administration for Tibetans–in–exile( – )For advocating peaceful solutions based upon tolerance and mutual respect in order to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of his people.
Head of Government of constituent countries A constituent country is a type of country which serves as an administrative division. Constituent countries usually form together to make a larger sovereign country. Unlike federal countries, power between constituent countries may not be spread out evenly, with one of them usually holding the capital and government.
The United Kingdom is a sovereign country made of four constituent countries. They are England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. While all four are often referred to as countries, they are technically constituent countries within a sovereign country, the UK. They are also sometimes referred to as regions, provinces, nations, or statelets. However, these titles are problematic and in particular, sensitive in Northern Ireland.
PortraitNobel LaureatePrizeYearCountryStatusRationaleDavid Trimble (1944–2022)Peace1998()1st First Minister of Northern Ireland (Head of Government of Northern Ireland serving with Seamus Mallon and Mark Durkan) (1 July 1998 – 14 October 2002)For his efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland. (Jointly awarded to another leading figure Irish politician, John Hume)
Timeline
Awardees by category
CountryLaurates43222111111111111111111Total311()1Total33 This lists does not include Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama and David Trimble GenderLaureatesMan29Female2Total31
Office HolderLaureatesWhile in office17Awarded before serving in office6Awarded after serving in office6In Between Two Non–Consecutive Terms1Total31Currently in office2 PrizeLaureatesNobel Peace Prize30Nobel Prize in Literature1Total31
Nominees
See also
Nobel Prize List of Nobel laureates
Notes
References