The Nobel Peace Prize () is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor and industrialist, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. Since March 1901, it has been awarded annually (with some exceptions) to those who have "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member body nominated by the Norwegian Parliament, chooses the laureate in accordance with Alfred Nobel's intention. The Committee invites qualified individuals to submit nominations for the Prize each year. Nomination of oneself is not permitted. There have been years when the prize was not given out despite the annual invitations and selections because of the start of World War I (1914, 1915, 1916, and 1918), World War II (1939–1943), and some specific circumstances (1923, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1955, 1956, 1966, 1967, and 1972). Due to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the Peace Prize was also not awarded in 1948 since, in the committee's words, "there was no acceptable live contender." During the committee's deliberations there were years when none of the nominees in the year they are listed met the criteria in Nobel's will. Thus, the awarding of the Prize was also postponed twelve times: Elihu Root (1912), Woodrow Wilson (1919), Austen Chamberlain (1925), Charles G. Dawes (1925), Frank B. Kellogg (1929), Norman Angell (1933), Carl von Ossietzky (1935), International Committee of the Red Cross (1944), Albert Schweitzer (1952), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1954), Albert Luthuli (1960), and Linus Pauling (1962).
Of the 1035 revealed nominees from 1901 to 1976, only the following are currently living: for 1969, the American academic Noam Chomsky (born 1928) for 1972, the American political activist Ralph Nader (born 1934) for 1976, the Argentine president Isabel Perón (born 1931) and American scientist Matthew Meselson (born 1931)
Though the following list consists of notable figures deemed worthy of the prize, there have been some celebrated individuals who were not considered nor even nominated such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman, Frances Xavier Cabrini, Leonard Henry Courtney, Baron Courtney, Olive Schreiner, Mary Harris Jones, Lorenz Werthmann, Matthias Erzberger, Aletta Jacobs, James Bryce, Crystal Eastman, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ben Salmon, Ida B. Wells, Henry Stephens Salt, René Schickele, Olaf Kullmann, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Käthe Kollwitz, Suzuki Bunji, Fannie Fern Andrews, José Brocca, Anne Henrietta Martin, Alcide De Gasperi, Katharine Drexel, Helene Schweitzer, Marie Stopes, Pope John XXIII, W. E. B. Du Bois, Robert Schuman, Malcolm X, Anna Julia Cooper, Kees Boeke, Che Guevara, Joseph Kentenich, Muriel Lester, Thomas Merton, Amparo Poch Gascón, C. W. W. Kannangara, Vera Brittain, Ammon Hennacy, Rachel Carson, Oskar Schindler, Anna Mae Aquash, Golda Meir, Ava Helen Pauling and Rosa Parks were not included.
Due to its size, this list has been split into three parts: List of individuals nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (1900–1949) List of individuals nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (1950–1999) List of individuals nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (2000–present)
Nominees by their first nomination 1950–1959