Tour Guide: Today we will be interviewing an expert, Mrs. O'Connor, who will be giving us information on the Nobel Peace Prize. 

I would like to begin by knowing what Nobel Peace Prizes are.

Mrs. O'Connor: Certainly. The Nobel Prizes are annual awards granted to an individual or organization for a great contribution in  certain fields. These include physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, international peace, and economic science. This prize is internationally recognized. Alfred Nobel is responsible for the creation of the Nobel Prize.  

Tour Guide:   Who was Alfred Nobel?

Mrs. O'Connor:  Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. Nobel set a fund for the prize in his will, and on the fifth anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded.

Tour Guide:   What effect on the world does the Nobel Peace Prize have?

Mrs. O'Connor:  The Nobel Peace Prize helps recognize certain individuals for their work toward promoting world peace. The Nobel Peace Prize builds an awareness of an individual’s beliefs as well as their actions taken to promote peace. 

This awareness does not specify one country, for it is international. 

With the media announcing what each individual has done, others may be encouraged to take action.

Tour Guide:   What are the winners awarded?

Mrs. O'Connor:  The prize is one million dollars, and is awarded to an individual, split between two people or shared jointly between three. There can be no more than three laureates (prize winners) in one year. 

However, one prize may go to an institution.

Tour Guide:   What is the process of choosing the winners?

Mrs. O'Connor:  The winners, or laureates, must first be nominated. In order to nominate someone for the Nobel Prize, an invitation must first be received. That person may nominate anyone other than himself or herself. The nominations are due on the first of February of the award year. A group of five people elected by the Norwegian Parliament then evaluate each Peace Prize nominee. Finally, in the month of October the final votes are cast and the winner is notified. On the anniversary of Nobel's death, the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, and the laureate gives a lecture on the contributions they have made to the field.

Tour Guide:   Who were some of the winners of the past?

Mrs. O'Connor:  Some of the more famous laureates are Rene Cassin of France in 1968, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet in 1989, Nelson Mandela of South Africa in 1993, Martin Luther King Jr. of the United States in 1964, Theodore Roosevelt of the United States in 1906, and the United Nations, which has won the Peace Prize several times, most recently in 2001. 

The past year, Jim Carter, a former United States president also received the award.

Tour Guide:   Thank you for your time, Mrs. O'Connor.  You have been very informative, and I now have a better understanding of the Nobel Peace Prize.   

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