Wikipedia

Freedom Award

(Redirected from IRC Freedom Award)
Not to be confused with IRI Freedom Award, Association of Former Intelligence Officers Freedom Award, or Secretary of Defense Employer Support 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]

Freedom Award
Awarded for"extraordinary contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom"[1]
CountryUnited States
Presented byInternational Rescue Committee
First awarded1957
Last awarded2013
WebsiteIRC Freedom Award

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

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Year Image Recipient Nationality References
1957   Willy Brandt   German [5]
1958   Winston Churchill   British [4]
1959   William Joseph Donovan   American [1]
1960   Richard Evelyn Byrd   American [1]
1965   George Meany   American [11]
1966   David Dubinsky   American [1]
1967   David Sarnoff   American [12]
1969   Lucius D. Clay   American [1]
1970   Jacob K. Javits   American [12]
1975   Bruno Kreisky   Austrian [13]
1976 — Leo Cherne   American [1]
1977   Hubert Humphrey   American [11]
1978 — Joseph Buttinger   Austrian [1]
1979 — Mary Pillsbury Lord[A]   American [1]
1981   Lane Kirkland
Irena Kirkland 		  American
  American 		[5]
1987   Elie Wiesel   Romanian [11]
1987 — John C. Whitehead   American [14]
1989   Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan   French
  Iranian
   Swiss 		[1]
1989   Lech Wałęsa   Polish [11]
1990 Violeta Chamorro   Nicaraguan [1]
1991 — Fang Lizhi
Li Shuxian 		  Chinese
  Chinese 		[1]
1991   Javier Pérez de Cuéllar   Peruvian [15]
1992   Cyrus Vance   American [12]
1993   George Soros[B]   Hungarian [7]
1993 — Dwayne Andreas[C]   American [1]
1994 — Theodore J. Forstmann[B]   American [16]
1994 — Felix Rohatyn[C]   Austrian [16]
1995   Aung San Suu Kyi[D]   Burmese [9]
1995   Sadako Ogata   Japanese [9]
1995   Richard Holbrooke   American [1]
1997 — Robert P. De Vecchi   American [12]
1999   Madeleine Albright   American [12]
2001   John McCain   American [17]
2002 — Reynold Levy   American [18]
2002   Hamid Karzai   Afghan [19]
2003   Václav Havel   Czech [9]
2004   Roméo Dallaire[B]   Canadian [20]
2005  
  		George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton 		  American
  American 		[21]
2006   Ellen Johnson Sirleaf   Liberian [22]
2007  
  		António Guterres
Angelina Jolie 		  Portuguese
  American 		[9]
2008   Kofi Annan   Ghanaian [23]
2011   Brokaw family   American [10]
2012 — John C. Whitehead   American [24]
2013   George Soros[B]   Hungarian [7][25]
2014 The humanitarian aid worker [26]
2015 Shimon Peres   Israeli
2016 Spyros Galinos   Greek [27]
2017   Leopoldo López   Venezuelan [28][29]

Notes

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  • A ^ Lord's award was made posthumously.[1]
  • B ^ Distinguished Humanitarian Award[1]
  • C ^ Distinguished Public Service Award[1]
  • D ^ Special Freedom Award Recipient, in absentia[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "IRC Freedom Award". International Rescue Committee. Archived from the original on 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  2. ^ "IRC at a glance". International Rescue Committee. Archived from the original on 2012-09-08. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  3. ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 1971". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2008-10-24. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  4. ^ a b "Give Churchill Freedom Award". Gettysburg Times. 1958-05-30. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  5. ^ a b c d Krebs, Albin (1981-04-07). "Notes on people; Kirklands to Get Awards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  6. ^ "Statements by Chinese Dissidents and Beijing". The New York Times. 1990-06-26. Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  7. ^ a b c "High Commissioner and Angelina Jolie to receive IRC Freedom Award". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2007-11-06. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  8. ^ "Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi". BBC News. 2009-08-11. Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  9. ^ a b c d e "UN refugee agency, Angelina Jolie receive Freedom Award". United Nations. 2007-11-08. Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  10. ^ a b "2011 Freedom Award: Honoring the Brokaw Family". International Rescue Committee. 2011-11-10. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2013-03-27.
  11. ^ a b c d "Walesa says West to blame if Poland fails". Times-News. 1989-11-17. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2023-11-24. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Madeleine Albright receives International Rescue Committee's Freedom Award". International Rescue Committee. 1999-11-10. Archived from the original on 2010-08-02. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  13. ^ "Austria's Kreisky Will Get Freedom Award". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 1975-04-10. p. 35. Archived from the original on 2023-11-24. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  14. ^ "Press Release – SG/SM/7625". United Nations. 2000-11-15. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  15. ^ "Social Events". The New York Times. 1991-11-03. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  16. ^ a b "Benefits". The New York Times. 1994-11-20. Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  17. ^ "Remarks of Senator John McCain – The International Rescue Committee's 2001 Freedom Award Dinner". U.S. Senator John McCain – Arizona. 2001-11-14. Archived from the original on 2016-08-27. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  18. ^ "2008 UPS Lecture on Nonprofit Leadership, Governance and Economic Stewardship". Georgia State University. Archived from the original on 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  19. ^ "His Excellency President Hamed Karzai". The Embassy of Afghanistan – Tokyo. Archived from the original on 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  20. ^ "Samantha Power – IRC Freedom Award Dinner – November 10, 2004" (PDF). Harvard University. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  21. ^ "IRC Honors Former Presidents Bush and Clinton for Tsunami, Katrina Relief Efforts". International Rescue Committee. 2005-11-10. Archived from the original on 2010-10-27. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
  22. ^ "Biographical Brief of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf". Government of the Republic of Liberia – Executive Mansion. Archived from the original on 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  23. ^ Lunn, Stephen; Harris, Bret (2008-12-09). "Give 'til it hurts". The Australian. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  24. ^ Anderson, Monika (2012-11-08). "Kissinger, Bloomberg Honor IRC at Freedom Award Dinner". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  25. ^ International Rescue Committee. "Freedom Award: Honoring George Soros". Rescue.org. International Rescue Committee. Archived from the original on 2015-02-03. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  26. ^ Honoring the humanitarian aid worker Archived 2015-09-06 at the Wayback Machine, Rescue, 2014
  27. ^ "International Rescue Committee honors Mayor Spyros Galinos of Lesbos and the Mack family at annual Rescue Dinner benefit". Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  28. ^ "Governor Scott Joins Venezuelan Expats In Doral; Says Maduro, 'Thugs' Have To Go". Archived from the original on 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2017-05-08.
  29. ^ "Freedom Award: Leopoldo López fue homenajeado con el Freedom Award en Miami". Archived from the original on 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2017-05-08.

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