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Four lives devoted to promoting peace

Biographies of 4 high profile peace activists

collage image with four black and white portaits, of Mahatma Gandhi, Bertha von Suttner, Jimmy Carter and Martin Luther King.
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Beth Daley (åbner i nyt vindue) (Europeana Foundation)

It is thought that of 3,400 years of written history, there have only been 250 years in which no country has been documented as being at war. I'm sure that most of us would class ourselves as advocates of peace, but some people go much further, making it their life's work to try to put an end to war and make peace a reality.

Here is a glimpse of some of the high profile peace activists you can find on Europeana.

black and white photograph of Mahatma Gandhi standing alongside a woman.

Mahatma Gandhi

Through non-violent disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi's vision was of an India where people of different religions lived harmoniously side by side. To promote this idea, he undertook fasts and visited areas troubled by religious unrest. Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 by a Hindu nationalist.

black and white photograph, Martin Luther King shaking hands with US President Lyndon Johnson watched by a group of men.

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was another promoter of harmony sadly killed by an objector.

Like Gandhi, Luther King used non-violent protest to further his cause - the African-American civil rights movement. In 1963, he helped to organise a march on Washington, at which he delivered his famous 'I have a dream' speech. In 1964, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated in 1968.

black and white photograph of Jimmy Carter who is carrying a large pile of books and papers.

Jimmy Carter

Another Nobel Peace Prize winner was Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, who received the award in 2002.

Carter started his career as a peanut farmer. In 1982, he established The Carter Center in Atlanta to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering. The non-profit, nong-overnmental centre promotes democracy, mediates and prevents conflicts, and monitors the electoral process in support of free and fair elections. It was for this work that Carter received the prestigous Peace Prize.

black and white portrait photograph of Berthe Suttner wearing a head-dress with a veil.

Berthe von Suttner

Finally, someone you might not know... Baroness Bertha von Suttner.

Von Suttner's influence on her friend Alfred Nobel led to the establishment of the Nobel Peace Prize itself. Her 1889 book Lay Down Your Arms! secured her position at the forefront of the peace movement and she went on to edit an international pacifist journal of the same name.

In 1891, she founded an Austrian pacifist organisation and, in 1905, she became the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

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