Lenin Prize Winners

from Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Sovieta SSSR

Allende, Brezhnev, Picasso, Joliot-Curie, Abraham Fischer, Ton Due Thang...

As of January 1, 1974, 125 representatives of 54 countries have, over the years, won the International Lenin Prize for the Promotion of Peace Among Nations.

The president of a Latin American republic who died a hero's death while performing his duties, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, a great artist, a famous atomic physicist, a white lawyer who was thrown into a South African prison for preaching the Christian idea of the brotherhood of man, and President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...

What feature unites these vastly different individuals, citizens of a host of countries, men of different political creeds and moral convictions?

It is the firm confidence that mankind can and must follow the road of peace rather than the paths of war.

And they have one other shared belief: they are convinced that good will alone — even if it is declared publicly does not guarantee peace. Vigorous action is needed — best of all at the state and international level — spearheaded directly against the insanity of world war.

All over the globe, people are prepared to advocate such views and consistently work in order to translate them into life.

In 1950, a special international prize, "For the Promotion of Peace Among Nations", was instituted in order to single out the most resolute of such people, those whose peace activities yielded the most tangible results.

The initiative in this was taken by the Soviet Union — a country where all propaganda of war and militarism is a criminal offence and where all aspects of internal and foreign policies are planned on the basis of a peaceful development of events.

The International Lenin Peace Prize Committee meets in Moscow once a year. In March and April representatives of the national peace and disarmament movements, gathering in the Kremlin, discuss the candidates whose names have been put forward for the Peace Prize.

National and international democratic organisations have the right to nominate candidates (trade union, cooperative, women's, youth, etc., associations of scientists, scholars, cultural figures) and also each member of the International Lenin Peace Prize Committee individually.

In 1973, four men whose candidacies were submitted the previous year were the winners of this prize: Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, Salvador Allende, President of the Republic of Chile, Enrique Pastorino of Uruguay, President of the World Federation of Trade Unions, and James Aldridge, a British writer and public figure.

The decision was signed by Academician Skobeltsyn (USSR); G. Alexandrov, film director (USSR); N. Blokhin, member, USSR Academy of Medical Sciences; Louis Aragon, writer (France); Mirjam Vire-Tuominen, public figure of Finland; Renato Guttuso, artist (Italy); Anna Seghers, novelist (GDR); Keshav Deva Malaviya, cabinet minister (India); Juan Marinello, representative of Cuba in the UNESCO; Pablo Neruda, poet (Chile), Nikolai Tomsky, sculptor (USSR); Georgi Traikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Council of Bulgaria and Chairman of its Agricultural Union Party; and Dr. Kaoru Yasui, professor of international law (Japan).

What kind of people do the judges think worthy of the peace prize?

Here are some excerpts from the characteristics given to the 1970-71 winners by Dr. Skobeltsyn, chairman of the international committee:

"... The scientific world is familiar with works by Professor Burhop in the fields of high-energy and elementary particle physics... 1 am firmly convinced that nuclear physicists should be particularly keenly aware of the grave danger for mankind spelled by the nuclear arms race. The most progressive and responsible of them are putting themselves in the forefront of fighters for world peace. For many years one of the most principled, energetic and consistent advocates of banning nuclear tests and supporters of nuclear disarmament has been Professor Eric Henry Stoneley Burhop, a noted British scientist. President of the World Federation of Scientific Workers and a member of the presidium of the World Peace Council."

"... At the close of the 1940s, when the world peace movement was emerging, the name of one of its founders, Tsola Dragoicheva, was heard in many languages. The life of this prominent political and public figure of Bulgaria has been difficult but vivid. Born in a peasant family, a teacher by profession, in 1919 she tied up her future with the Bulgarian Communist Party. This brave underground worker was repeatedly arrested and twice sentenced to death. After the victory of the patriotic forces in September 1944 and the establishment of people's power in Bulgaria this woman held important Party and state positions..."

"... By his firm socio-political stand, Kamal Joumblatt, a member of the Lebanese parliament, has earned well- merited recognition among the pro gressive public of the Middle East. A convinced opponent of colonialism, he has made a notable contribution to the formation of the Afro-Asian people's movement for unity in their struggle against neo-colonialism. On many occasions Joumblatt has been a member of his country's ministerial cabinet. The Lebanon's progressivesocialist party, of which he is leader, together with the communists, advocates the interests of the working people..."

In the 23 years that have passed since the institution of the International Lenin Prize for the Promotion of Peace Among Nations the award has been conferred on many worthy fighters whose names are now widely known.

Among them were Hewlett Johnson, Dean of Canterbury in Britain (a Lenin Prize winner of 1950); his fellow-citizen John Bernal, professor at London University (1953); the Brazilian writer George Amadu (1951); the German poet and playwright, Bertold Brecht (1954); the Indian poet and the present Secretary of the World Peace Council, Romesh Chandra (1967); Aziz Sherif, a public figure of Iraq (1963); the great Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueros (1966); Fidel Castro Ruz, Prime minister of Cuba (i960); the Norwegian pastor Ragnar Forbech, chaplain of a cathedral in Oslo (1955); the glorious Black singer and brave citizen of the United States, Paul Robeson (1952); another prominent American public figure, the world-famous scientist Linus C. Pauling (1968-69).

A total of 125 names made up the list by the beginning of 1974.

Everyone recognises that people like Ludvik Svoboda of Czechoslovakia or Abraham Fischer of South Africa are consistent in their efforts for world peace and ready to champion their principles in the most challenging circumstances. This makes them well merited winners of the International Peace Prize.

Naturally, it is not the 25,000 roubles (which they usually turn over to some progressive cause) that they treasure.

What is important is the public recognition of their efforts and the consequent extra moral support for ordinary citizens the world over who associate their hopes for a peaceful future with uniting all people of good will internationally.

The decisions on the International Lenin Prize for the Promotion of Peace Among Nations are usually published on May 1, day of international solidarity of the working people. The symbolism of the date needs no explanation.

Sputnik. №5 May 1974