The International Lenin Peace Prize () was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among comrades". It was founded as the International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples, but was renamed the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples () as a result of de-Stalinization. Unlike the Nobel Prize, the Lenin Peace Prize was usually awarded to several people a year rather than to just one individual. The prize was mainly awarded to prominent communists and supporters of the Soviet Union who were not Soviet citizens. Notable recipients include W. E. B. Du Bois, Fidel Castro, Lázaro Cárdenas, Salvador Allende, Mikis Theodorakis, Seán MacBride, Angela Davis, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Niemeyer, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, CV Raman, Mihail Sadoveanu, Nelson Mandela and Kwame Nkrumah. , the only living prize laureate is Angela Davis.
History
The prize was created as the International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples on December 21, 1949, by executive order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in honor of Joseph Stalin's seventieth birthday (although this was after his seventy-first).
Following Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin in 1956 during the Twentieth Party Congress, the prize was renamed on September 6 as the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples. All previous recipients were asked to return their Stalin Prizes so they could be replaced by the renamed Lenin Prize. By a decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 11, 1989, the prize was renamed the International Lenin Peace Prize. Two years later, after the collapse of USSR in 1991, the Russian government, as the successor state to the defunct Soviet Union, ended the award program. The Lenin Peace Prize is regarded as a counterpart to the existing Nobel Peace Prize.
The International Lenin Prize should not be confused with the International Peace Prize, awarded by the World Peace Council. In 1941 the Soviet Union created the Stalin Prize (later renamed the USSR State Prize), which was awarded annually to accomplished Soviet writers, composers, artists and scientists.
Stalin Prize recipients
thumb|Stalin Peace Prize medal depicted on a 1953 stamp
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Picture
!Name
!Occupation
!Country
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="7" |1950
|75px
|Eugénie Cotton<br /><small>(1881–1967)</small>
|Scientist, President of the Women's International Democratic Federation
|
|Awarded 6 April 1951
|-
|75px
|Heriberto Jara Corona<br /><small>(1891–1958)</small>
|Writer, Socialist Unity Party politician, founding member of the DDR Academy of Arts
|
|Awarded 20 December 1952
|-
|75px
|Elisa Branco<br /><small>(1902–1998)</small>
|Writer, Nobel laureate in Literature <small>(1955)</small>
|
|Awarded 20 December 1952
|-
|75px
|Saifuddin Kitchlew<br /><small>(1888–1972)</small>
|Physician, educator, Chairman of the Swedish Women's Left-Wing Association <small>(1946–1964)</small>, Vice President of the Women's International Democratic Federation
|
|Awarded 12 December 1953
|-
|
|John Desmond Bernal<br /><small>(1888–1959)</small>
|Scholar, writer, Professor at the University of Lausanne
|
|Awarded 18 December 1954
|-
|75px
|Bertolt Brecht<br /><small>(1902–1989)</small>
|Poet
|
|Awarded 18 December 1954
|-
|75px
|Felix Iversen<br /><small>(1887–1972)</small>
|Barrister, Labour Independent Group politician, Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hammersmith North <small>(1935–1950)</small>
|
|Awarded 18 December 1954
|-
|75px
|Baldomero Sanín Cano<br /><small>(1892–1960)</small>
|Rebel commander in Great Syrian Revolt and 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, Syrian Communist Party politician
|
|Awarded 9 December 1955
|-
|75px
|Lázaro Cárdenas<br /><small>(1869–1954)</small>
|Writer
|
|
|}
Lenin Prize recipients
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
!Picture
!Name
!Occupation
!Country
!Notes
|-
| rowspan="7" |1957
|75px
|Louis Aragon<br /><small>(1924–1997)</small>
|Social activist, educator, sociologist
|
|
|-
|75px
|María Rosa Oliver<br /><small>(1889–1969)</small>
|Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren theologian, founder of the Christian Peace Conference
|
|
|-
|75px
|Artur Lundkvist<br /><small>(1906–1991)</small>
|Writer, literary critic, Member of the Swedish Academy <small>(1968–1991)</small>
|
|
|-
|frameless|91x91px
|Louis Saillant<br /><small>(1907–1980)</small>
|Jurist, scholar, Professor at the University of Tokyo, Chairman of the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs <small>(1954–1965)</small>
|
|
|-
|75px
|Arnold Zweig<br /><small>(1887–1968)</small>
|Writer
|
|
|-
| rowspan="5" |1959
|75px
|Otto Buchwitz<br /><small>(1879–1964)</small>
|Politician, Member of the Reichstag <small>(1924–1933)</small>, Member of the Volkskammer <small>(1946–1964)</small>
|
|Awarded 30 April 1959
|-
|75px
|W. E. B. Du Bois<br /><small>(1906–1972)</small>
|French Communist Party politician, Member of the National Assembly of France for Seine-et-Marne<small>(1945–1958)</small>
|
|Awarded 3 May 1960
|-
|75px
|Cyrus S. Eaton<br /><small>(1904–1990)</small>
|Politician, Chairman of the Peace Partisans Organization of Iraq
|
|Awarded 3 May 1960
|-
|75px
|Sukarno<br /><small>(1926–2016)</small>
|Politician, leader of Cuban Revolution, Prime Minister of Cuba <small>(1959–1976)</small>, President of Cuba <small>(1976–2008)</small>
|
|Awarded 30 April 1961
|-
|75px
|
|
|Awarded 30 April 1961
|-
|75px
|Ahmed Sékou Touré<br /><small>(1909–1972)</small>
|Convention People's Party politician, Prime Minister of Ghana <small>(1957–1960)</small>, President of Ghana <small>(1960–1966)</small>
|
|Awarded 30 April 1962
|-
|75px
|Pablo Picasso<br /><small>(1881–1973)</small>
|Painter, sculptor
|
|Awarded 30 April 1962
|-
|
|Olga Poblete<br /><small>(1922–2020)</small>
|Communist Party of Greece politician, Greek Resistance/Greek Civil War guerilla
|
|Awarded 1 May 1963
|-
|75px
|Modibo Keïta<br /><small>(1898–1975)</small>
|Bulgarian Agrarian National Union politician, Chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria <small>(1964–1971)</small>
|
|Awarded 1 May 1963
|-
| rowspan="7" |1964
|75px
|Rafael Alberti<br /><small>(1902–1999)</small>
|Poet
|
|Awarded 1 May 1964
|-
|75px
|Aruna Asaf Ali<br /><small>(1909–1996)</small>
|Communist Party of India politician, Indian independence movement activist, Vice President of the Women's International Democratic Federation
|
|Presented 14 August 1965
|-
|75px
|Ahmed Ben Bella<br /><small>(1916–2012)</small>
|National Liberation Front politician, Algerian War revolutionary, President of Algeria <small>(1963–1965)</small>
|
|Awarded 1 May 1964
|-
|
|Herluf Bidstrup<br /><small>(1905–?)</small>
|Journalist and trade unionist
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1965
|
|Peter Ayodele Curtis Joseph<br /><small>(1899–1974)</small>
|Writer, diplomat, Nobel laureate in Literature <small>(1967)</small>
|
|
|-
|
|Bram Fischer<br /><small>(1908–1991)</small>
|Sculptor
|
|
|-
|75px
|Martin Niemöller<br /><small>(1902–1975)</small>
|Trade unionist, Chairman of the Free German Trade Union Federation <small>(1946–1975)</small>
|
|Awarded 1 May 1967
|-
| rowspan="6" |1967
|75px
|Romesh Chandra<br /><small>(1919–2016)</small>
|Communist Party of India politician, President of the World Peace Council <small>(1977–1990)</small>
|
|
|-
|75px
|Jean Effel<br /><small>(1922/1923–2011)</small>
|Arab Socialist Union politician, academic, Minister of Social Affairs of the United Arab Republic <small>(1962–1965)</small>
|
|
|-
|75px
|Eric Burhop<br /><small>(1911–1980)</small>
|Physicist, Professor at University College London, Fellow of the Royal Society <small>(1963)</small>
|<br />
|
|-
|75px
|Ernst Busch<br /><small>(1912–1987)</small>
|Painter
|
|
|-
|75px
|Kamal Jumblatt<br /><small>(1917–1977)</small>
|Progressive Socialist Party politician, Member of the Parliament of Lebanon <small>(1947–1977)</small>
|
|
|-
|75px
|Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti<br /><small>(1900–1978)</small>
|Teacher, leader of Abeokuta Women's Revolt, women's rights activist
|
|
|-
|75px
|Alfredo Varela<br /><small>(1918–2015)</small>
|Writer
|<br />
|Awarded 1 May 1973
|-
|75px
|Salvador Allende<br /><small>(1916–2010)</small>
|Politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile <small>(1958–1990)</small>
|
|
|-
|
|<br /><small>(1913–2009)</small>
|Educator, librarian, First Lady of Chile <small>(1970–1973)</small>
|
|Widow of Salvador Allende (recipient in 1972)<br />Awarded May 1977
|-
|75px
|János Kádár<br /><small>(1909–1997)</small>
|Politician, Chairman of the German Communist Party <small>(1969–1973)</small>
|
|Awarded 1 May 1979
|-
|75px
|Freda Brown<br /><small>(1911–1996)</small>
|Writer
|
|Awarded 30 April 1980
|-
|75px
|Angela Davis<br /><small>(1900–1986)</small>
|Politician, lawyer, President of Finland <small>(1956–1982)</small>
|
|Awarded 30 April 1980
|-
|75px
|<br /><small>(1941–2008)</small>
|Poet
|
|Awarded May 1983
|-
|
|John Hanly Morgan<br /><small>(1914–2005)</small>
|Politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece <small>(1972–1989)</small>
|
|Awarded September 1984
|-
|75px
|Indira Gandhi<br /><small>(1917–1984)</small>
|Politician, Prime Minister of India <small>(1980–1984), (1966–1977)</small>
|
|Awarded posthumously on 1 May 1985
|-
|
|Jean-Marie Legay<br /><small>(1933–2017)</small>
|Sandinista National Liberation Front politician, Catholic Church priest, Foreign Minister of Nicaragua <small>(1979–1990)</small>, President of the United Nations General Assembly <small>(2008–2009)</small>
|
|
|-
|75px
|Dorothy Hodgkin<br /><small>(1922–1999)</small>
|Politician, anti-colonial activist, President of Tanzania <small>(1964–1985)</small>
|
|
|-
|
|Petur Tanchev<br /><small>(1928–2016)</small>
|Philanthropist, ascetic
|
|
|-
|1990
|75px
|Nelson Mandela<br /><small>(1918–2013)</small>
|Politician, founder of African National Congress, anti-apartheid activist, President of South Africa <small>(1994–1999)</small>, Nobel Peace Prize laureate <small>(1993)</small>
|
|Unable to accept the prize until 2002 due to his trial and imprisonment in South Africa
|}
See also
- Atoms for Peace Award
References
External links
- Thoughts on winning the Stalin Peace Prize by Paul Robeson
- On Receiving the Stalin Peace Award by Howard Fast
- Soviet Prize Medals pictures of the medals and accompanying certificates
- PDF-version of issue of Pravda with ukaz about creation of prize.