Freedom Award

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) bestows its Freedom Award for extraordinary contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom. According to the IRC, "The Freedom Award reveals the remarkable ability of an individual to shape history and change for the better a world moving toward freedom for all."^[1]

The IRC was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein,^[2] and made its first Freedom Award in 1957, to German politician Willy Brandt, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.^[3] The following year, the award was presented to Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during the Second World War, for his "dedicated and devoted service to the cause of human liberty".^[4] The first joint recipients of the award were Lane Kirkland and his wife Irena who won the prize in 1981.^[5] Lane was honored for his "long devotion to the cause of refugees" while Irena was described as "very much a human rights activist".^[5] Chinese dissidents Li Shuxian and Fang Lizhi were jointly honored in 1991;^[1][6] two American Presidents, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton took the prize as a pair in 2005, and film actress Angelina Jolie and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees High Commissioner António Guterres received the award together in 2007.^[7]

Since the first award presentation in 1957, the IRC has made it to 46 recipients, 24 of which were American; the majority of awards have been to politicians. The 1995 presentation was made in absentia to Burmese pro-democracy campaigner and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, Aung San Suu Kyi.^[8][9] The 2011 award ceremony was held in New York City, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in November, where the presentation was made to the Brokaw family.^[10] In 2012, John C. Whitehead received the prize for a second time, the only person to do so.^[1]

Recipients

Year	Image	Recipient	Nationality	References
1957		Brandt, WillyWilly Brandt	German	[5]
1958		Churchill, WinstonWinston Churchill	British	[4]
1959		Donovan, William JosephWilliam Joseph Donovan	American	[1]
1960		Byrd, Richard EvelynRichard Evelyn Byrd	American	[1]
1965		Meany, GeorgeGeorge Meany	American	[11]
1966		Dubinsky, DavidDavid Dubinsky	American	[1]
1967		Sarnoff, DavidDavid Sarnoff	American	[12]
1969		Clay, Lucius D.Lucius D. Clay	American	[1]
1970		Javits, Jacob K.Jacob K. Javits	American	[12]
1975		Kreisky, BrunoBruno Kreisky	Austrian	[13]
1976	—	Cherne, LeoLeo Cherne	American	[1]
1977		Humphrey, HubertHubert Humphrey	American	[11]
1978	—	Buttinger, JosephJoseph Buttinger	Austrian	[1]
1979	—	Lord, Mary PillsburyMary Pillsbury Lord[A]	American	[1]
1981		Kirkland, LaneLane Kirkland Irena Kirkland	American  American	[5]
1987		Wiesel, ElieElie Wiesel	Romanian	[11]
1987	—	Whitehead, John C.John C. Whitehead	American	[14]
1989		Aga Khan, Prince SadruddinPrince Sadruddin Aga Khan	French  Iranian   Swiss	[1]
1989		Wałęsa, LechLech Wałęsa	Polish	[11]
1990		Chamorro, VioletaVioleta Chamorro	Nicaraguan	[1]
1991	—	Lizhi, FangFang Lizhi Li Shuxian	Chinese  Chinese	[1]
1991		Pérez de Cuéllar, JavierJavier Pérez de Cuéllar	Peruvian	[15]
1992		Vance, CyrusCyrus Vance	American	[12]
1993		Soros, GeorgeGeorge Soros[B]	Hungarian	[7]
1993	—	Andreas, DwayneDwayne Andreas[C]	American	[1]
1994	—	Forstmann, Theodore J.Theodore J. Forstmann[B]	American	[16]
1994	—	Rohatyn, FelixFelix Rohatyn[C]	Austrian	[16]
1995		Suu Kyi, Aung SanAung San Suu Kyi[D]	Burmese	[9]
1995		Ogata, SadakoSadako Ogata	Japanese	[9]
1995		Holbrooke, RichardRichard Holbrooke	American	[1]
1997	—	De Vecchi, Robert P.Robert P. De Vecchi	American	[12]
1999		Albright, MadeleineMadeleine Albright	American	[12]
2001		McCain, JohnJohn McCain	American	[17]
2002	—	Levy, ReynoldReynold Levy	American	[18]
2002		Karzai, HamidHamid Karzai	Afghan	[19]
2003		Havel, VáclavVáclav Havel	Czech	[9]
2004		Dallaire, RoméoRoméo Dallaire[B]	Canadian	[20]
2005		Bush, George H.W.George H.W. Bush Bill Clinton	American  American	[21]
2006		Sirleaf, Ellen JohnsonEllen Johnson Sirleaf	Liberian	[22]
2007		Guterres, AntónioAntónio Guterres Angelina Jolie	Portuguese  American	[9]
2008		Annan, KofiKofi Annan	Ghanaian	[23]
2011		BrokawBrokaw family	American	[10]
2012	—	Whitehead, John C.John C. Whitehead	American	[24]
2013		Soros, GeorgeGeorge Soros[B]	Hungarian	[7][25]
2014		The humanitarian aid worker		[26]
2015		Shimon Peres	Israeli

Notes

References