People
Peace has faces
Peace does not happen by itself. People negotiated it, fought for it and lived it, often against strong resistance
Key points at a glance
- This series introduces eleven people who shaped peace in very different ways: as helpers, writers, politicians, diplomats and leaders of nonviolent movements.
- Ten of the eleven received the Nobel Peace Prize. Mahatma Gandhi was nominated five times but never awarded it.
- Every portrait answers the same five questions: who the person was, what they stood for, what they achieved, what criticism there is and what remains.
- Every quote on the portrait pages links to where it was found, so you can check every word. All of them are collected on the page Quotes about peace.
- Public office and diplomacy5 of 11
- Nonviolent movements2 of 11
- Humanitarian aid and medicine2 of 11
- Writing and journalism2 of 11
Up to 1914
- Portraits
- Henry Dunant, Bertha von Suttner
- Means
- Relief organisation, convention, novel and peace society
- Setting
- Great powers in Europe before the First World War
1914 to 1948
- Portraits
- Gustav Stresemann, Carl von Ossietzky, Mahatma Gandhi
- Means
- Treaties, the press and nonviolent resistance
- Setting
- The interwar years, dictatorship and colonial rule
After 1948
- Portraits
- Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Willy Brandt, Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter
- Means
- Hospital, civil rights movement, Ostpolitik, negotiation and the United Nations
- Setting
- The Cold War, the end of the colonial empires and the United Nations
- Nobel Peace Prize10 of 11
- Nominated five times, never awarded (Mahatma Gandhi)1 of 11
All portraits at a glance
| Person | Lifespan | Role | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Dunant | 8 May 1828 to 30 October 1910 | Businessman, co-founder of the Red Cross and originator of the Geneva Convention | Nobel Peace Prize 1901, shared with Frédéric Passy |
| Bertha von Suttner | 9 June 1843 to 21 June 1914 | Writer, pacifist and president of the Austrian Peace Society | Nobel Peace Prize 1905 |
| Mahatma Gandhi | 2 October 1869 to 30 January 1948 | Lawyer and leader of the Indian independence movement | No Nobel Peace Prize, despite five nominations between 1937 and 1948 |
| Albert Schweitzer | 14 January 1875 to 4 September 1965 | Theologian, organist, doctor and founder of the hospital at Lambaréné | Nobel Peace Prize 1952, awarded in 1953 |
| Gustav Stresemann | 10 May 1878 to 3 October 1929 | Reich Chancellor in 1923, Reich Foreign Minister from 1923 to 1929 | Nobel Peace Prize 1926, shared with Aristide Briand |
| Carl von Ossietzky | 3 October 1889 to 4 May 1938 | Journalist, editor-in-chief of “Die Weltbühne” and pacifist | Nobel Peace Prize 1935, awarded in 1936 |
| Willy Brandt | 18 December 1913 to 8 October 1992 | Governing Mayor of Berlin, Federal Chancellor from 1969 to 1974 | Nobel Peace Prize 1971 |
| Nelson Mandela | 18 July 1918 to 5 December 2013 | Lawyer, ANC leader and South Africa’s first democratically elected president | Nobel Peace Prize 1993, jointly with Frederik Willem de Klerk |
| Jimmy Carter | 1 October 1924 to 29 December 2024 | 39th President of the United States and founder of the Carter Center | Nobel Peace Prize 2002 |
| Martin Luther King | 15 January 1929 to 4 April 1968 | Baptist minister and leader of the civil rights movement | Nobel Peace Prize 1964 |
| Kofi Annan | 8 April 1938 to 18 August 2018 | Seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations | Nobel Peace Prize 2001 |
This series introduces people who worked for peace: in parliaments and negotiations, on the streets, in hospitals and newsrooms. Every portrait follows the same five questions: who the person was, what they stood for, what they achieved, what criticism there is and what remains.
The portraits
8 May 1828 to 30 October 1910
Henry Dunant
A Geneva businessman who cared for the wounded after a battle and turned the experience into the idea of the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention
Read the portrait9 June 1843 to 21 June 1914
Bertha von Suttner
A writer whose anti-war novel shaped an entire movement and who in 1905 became the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
Read the portrait2 October 1869 to 30 January 1948
Mahatma Gandhi
A lawyer from Porbandar who turned nonviolent resistance into a method for millions and so shaped movements far beyond India
Read the portrait14 January 1875 to 4 September 1965
Albert Schweitzer
A theologian, organist and doctor who built a hospital in Africa and, with his ethic of reverence for life, spoke out against war and nuclear weapons
Read the portrait10 May 1878 to 3 October 1929
Gustav Stresemann
The Weimar foreign minister who, after the First World War, chose negotiation over confrontation and secured peace on the Rhine by treaty with France
Read the portrait3 October 1889 to 4 May 1938
Carl von Ossietzky
The journalist who exposed secret rearmament in the Weimar Republic, refused to flee and received the Nobel Peace Prize as a prisoner of the Nazis
Read the portrait18 December 1913 to 8 October 1992
Willy Brandt
The chancellor who used talks, treaties and a silent gesture in Warsaw to seek détente between East and West and reconciliation with Germany’s eastern neighbours
Read the portrait18 July 1918 to 5 December 2013
Nelson Mandela
A lawyer from the Eastern Cape who, after 27 years in prison, governed without revenge and negotiated South Africa’s way out of apartheid into democracy
Read the portrait1 October 1924 to 29 December 2024
Jimmy Carter
A president who brought Egypt and Israel to the same table and then spent four decades observing elections, mediating conflicts and fighting disease
Read the portrait15 January 1929 to 4 April 1968
Martin Luther King
A pastor from Atlanta who showed that racial segregation could be overcome through boycotts, marches and speeches, without ever turning to violence himself
Read the portrait8 April 1938 to 18 August 2018
Kofi Annan
The first Secretary-General to rise from the ranks of United Nations staff, who put human rights above state sovereignty and drew lessons from the organisation’s failures
Read the portrait
Frequently asked questions
What is a peacemaker?
A peacemaker is someone who helps to settle a dispute, end violence or prevent it. That can happen at the negotiating table, in a movement on the street, in a hospital or with a pen.
The portraits in this series show how different that can look: Henry Dunant organised help for the wounded, Willy Brandt concluded treaties with neighbouring states, Martin Luther King led nonviolent protests.
What does the Bible say about peacemakers?
In the Beatitudes, which open the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, it says: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” That is Matthew 5:9.
Two people in this series came from church professions: Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister, Albert Schweitzer a theologian. Gandhi named the Sermon on the Mount as one of the sources of his thinking.
Why is Mahatma Gandhi in this series although he was never awarded?
Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times between 1937 and 1948, but it was never awarded to him. Later members of the Nobel Committee have publicly regretted the omission.
The series chooses people for their work for peace, not for awards. Gandhi’s method of nonviolent resistance reached far beyond India, including the civil rights movement around Martin Luther King.
Which people have shaped peace?
This series introduces eleven of them. Gustav Stresemann, Willy Brandt, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan worked in public office and diplomacy. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King led nonviolent movements.
Henry Dunant and Albert Schweitzer stand for humanitarian aid and medicine, Bertha von Suttner and Carl von Ossietzky for the written word. Every portrait names its sources.
From role model to a mission of your own
None of these people acted alone. What connects them is the step from concern to action. That step is possible on a small scale too: in a neighbourhood, a school, a club.
Find your peace mission