The Nansen Refugee Award

Formerly known as the Nansen Medal, this Award is named after the Norwegian arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who was appointed in 1921 by the UN's predecessor, the League of Nations, to be the very first High Commissioner for Refugees. The Award is given out yearly to a person or group for outstanding services in supporting refugee causes. The award was first given in 1955 and since 1979 a monetary prize has been added to the medal. In 2005 the monetary prize consisted of $100,000.

Candidates should be an individual or group whose dedication to, support for and personal interest in refugees has been demonstrated by an innovative approach to refugee protection or assistance. Of equal merit would be a courageous deed involving personal self-sacrifice that made an exceptional contribution to advancing interest in, or support for the cause of refugees, or improving the situation of refugees.

List of Laureates

• 1954: Eleanor Roosevelt (USA)
• 1955: Queen Juliana (Netherlands)
• 1956: Dorothy D. Houghton (USA) and Gerrit J van Heuven Goedhart
• 1957: The League of Red Cross Societies
• 1958: David Hoggett (United Kingdom) and Pierre Jacobsen (posthumously) (France)
• 1959: Oskar Helmer (Austria)
• 1960: Christopher Chataway, Colin Jones, Trevor Philpott and Timothy Raison (United Kingdom)
• 1961: Olav V (Norway)
• 1962: Tasman Heyes (Australia)
• 1963: The International Council for Voluntary Agencies
• 1964: May Curwen (United Kingdom), François Preziosi (posthumously) (Italy) and Jean Plicque (posthumously) (France)
• 1965: Lucie Chevalley (France), Ana Rosa Schliepper de Martinez Guerrero (posthumously) (Argentina) and Jørgen Nørredam (posthumously) (Denmark)
• 1967: Prince Bernhard (Netherlands)
• 1968: Bernard Arcens (Senegal) and Charles H. Jordan (posthumously) (USA)
• 1969: Unknown
• 1972: Svana Fridriksdottir (Iceland)
• 1974: Helmut Frenz (Chile)
• 1975: James J. Norris (USA)
• 1976: Olav Hodne (Norway) and Marie-Louise Bertschinger (posthumously) (Switzerland)
• 1977: The Malaysian Red Crescent Society (Malaysia)
• 1978: Seretse Khama (Botswana)
• 1979: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (France)
• 1980: Maryluz Schloeter Paredes (Venezuela)
• 1981: Paul A. Cullen (Australia)
• 1982: Crown Princess Sonja (Norway)
• 1983: Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere (Tanzania)
• 1984: Lewis M. Hiller, Jeff Kass and Gregg Turay (USA)
• 1985: Paulo Evaristo (Brazil)
• 1986: The people of Canada (accepted by Jeanne Sauvé the Governor General of Canada)
• 1987: Juan Carlos I (Spain)
• 1988: Syed Munir Husain (Pakistan)
• 1991: Paul Weis (posthumously) (Austria) and Libertina Appolus Amathila (Namibia)
• 1992: Richard von Weizsäcker (Germany)
• 1993: Médecins sans Frontières
• 1995: Graça Machel (Mozambique)
• 1996: Handicap International
• 1997: Joannes Klas (USA)
• 1998: Mustafa Abdulcemil Kirimoglu (Ukraine)
• 2000: Jelena Silajdzic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Abune Paulos (Ethiopia), Lao Mong Hay (Cambodia), Miguel Angel Estrella (Argentina) and the United Nations volunteers
• 2001: Luciano Pavarotti (Italy)
• 2002: Arne Rinnan (Norway), the crew of the MV Tampa and Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA
• 2003: Annalena Tonelli, (Italy)
• 2004: Memorial Human Rights Centre (Russia)
• 2005: Marguerite Barankitse (Burundi)

Related links:

The First Crossing of Greenland,

Farthest North by Fridjtof Nansen. The long out-of-print Farthest North, one of the first titles in The Modern Library's Exploration series, recounts Dr. Fridtjof Nansen's epic 1893 pursuit of the North Pole. Nansen was the chronicler of one his age's most sensational adventures. But he was also much more: statesman and explorer, scientist and sex symbol, Nansen's singular character and remarkable spirit demand attention and respect. The good doctor entered the limelight after his landmark first crossing of Greenland in 1888. Shortly after, he concocted a brilliant (or lunatic, depending on whom you asked) scheme to conquer the pole. He and a small crew would freeze a specially designed boat in the ice and drift with the Arctic current, which he believed would carry him from the coast of Siberia northwest to the pole. In mid-voyage, he realized that the current would not carry him far enough. Undaunted, he and a companion set out across the ice with a dogsled. Nansen was left for dead, but when he stumbled upon another exploration team more than a year later--having reached farther north than anyone before him--he returned to Norway an international sensation.

Fridtjof Nansen in the Frozen World: The Fram Expedition by Fridtjof Nansen. To quote the lengthy title page when this book was originally published in 1897: "The 'Fram' Expedition, Nansen in the Frozen World, preceded by a biography of the great explorer and copious extracts from Nansen's First Crossing of Greenland; also an account by Elvind Astrup of life among people near the pole, and his journey across northern Greenland with Lieutenant Robert E. Peary, United States Navy, arranged and edited by S. L. Berens, Cand. Ph.D. Followed by a brief history of the principal earlier arctic explorations from the Ninth Century to the Peary Expedition..."

In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times In Northern Mists: Arctic Exploration in Early Times by Fridtjof Nansen (Hardcover). This almost century-old book by the famous explorer and statesman Fridtjof Nansen has not got the attention it deserves. It was probably forgotten due to the outbreak of war in 1914. Therefore it is highly welcomed that a translation appears into the English language. In fact, the book is still very relevant, due to Mr Nansen's very detailed research and his profound knowledge of the Northern Waters. There are, of course, some details that have later been proved to be inaccurate, but some of his arguments seem convincing even today.