The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday was conferred to Indian-origin Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay for her efforts to “promote peace and international law”. Pillay is a human rights lawyer based in South Africa.
In a statement, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Pillay has held states and national leaders accountable and brought a “hope to the victims of violence and conflict”. It said Pillay has always stressed the responsibility of individuals and states to comply with the rule of law.
“Navi Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. “A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time.”
Indians who received Nobel Peace Prize
Pillay has joined the elite list of Indian-origin people who have been conferred with the Nobel Prize. Before Pillay, Indian-origin foreign nationals who were given the Nobel Prize were Har Gobind Khorana (1968, Physiology or Medicine), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1983, Physics), Venkatraman ‘Venki’ Ramakrishnan (2009, Chemistry), VS Naipaul (2001, Literature), and Abhijit Banerjee (2019, Economic Sciences).
Meanwhile, Indian nationals who have received Nobel Prize till now are Rabindranath Tagore (1913, Literature), Sir CV Raman (1930, Physics), Mother Teresa (1979, Peace), Amartya Sen (1998, Economic Sciences), and Kailash Satyarthi (2014, Peace).
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