The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901.
The inaugural prize went jointly to Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant and French pacifist Frédéric Passy. Dunant helped found the International Committee of the Red Cross after witnessing the suffering at the 1859 Battle of Solferino. Passy was a prominent advocate of arbitration and organized peace efforts in France.
The prize was established through the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and industrialist who died in 1896. Nobel specified that the Peace Prize should honor the person who had done the most or best work for fraternity between nations, abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the holding and promotion of peace congresses.
Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, the Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The ceremony takes place in Oslo, while the other Nobel ceremonies are held in Stockholm.