Nobel Peace Prize 2004

by Grandpa Chuck

I'm sure all of you have heard of the Nobel Peace Prize.  Winners are recognized for their accomplishments in various fields such as Physics, Chemistry,  Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics.   

Looking just at the catagory of "Peace" some of the past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have been Theodore Roosevelt,   Martin Luther King, Henry Kissenger, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachey, Nelson Mandela, and Jimmy Carter to name a few. 

This years winner Wangari Maathai, Kenya's deputy environment minister, is the first African woman to win the prize, first awarded in 1901. She gained recent acclaim for a campaign planting 30 million trees to stave off deforestation.

"We believe that Maathai is a strong voice speaking for the best forces in Africa to promote peace and good living conditions on that continent," the Nobel committee said in its citation.  It was the first time the prize recognized work to preserve the environment.

"The environment is very important in the aspects of peace because when we destroy our resources and our resources become scarce, we fight over that," Maathai said.  "Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment," Maathai's citation said.

 This year's award announcements began on Monday.  For a list of winners in the other catagories please visit NobelPrize.org