Nobel Peace Prize 2025 awarded to Maria Corina Machado
What's the story
The Nobel Peace Prize 2025 has been awarded to Maria Corina Machado. Last year, the prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors from the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again." The award ceremony will take place on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
Award criteria
Why is Nobel Peace Prize awarded
Five of the six Nobel Prizes are presented at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, while the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, as stipulated in Alfred Nobel's will. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded 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."
Nomination process
Backstory
The Nobel Prizes are named after Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), a wealthy Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist best known for inventing dynamite. He bequeathed his fortune to reward those who have "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901 for outstanding achievement in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace.
2025
338 nominees this year
The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize featured 338 nominees, including 244 individuals and 94 organizations, an increase from 286 in 2024. Nominations are kept confidential, and committee members cannot discuss their decisions for 50 years. This year, US President Donald Trump has been the center of Nobel Peace Prize nominations. Trump, who declared that "everyone says I should get the Nobel Peace Prize," has garnered endorsements from Israel, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan, despite widespread doubts about his credentials.
Past
One person has turned down the award
As of 2024, the prize has been awarded 105 times. The youngest laureate is Malala Yousafzai, who was awarded the prize at 17, while the oldest is Joseph Rotblat, who was honored at the age of 86 for his work against nuclear weapons. Only one person has turned down the prize. Vietnamese politician Le Duc Tho and US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger received the honor in 1973 for their contributions to ending the Vietnam War. Tho declined the award.