Which civil rights leader won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his nonviolent campaign against racial segregation?

Martin Luther King Jr. won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for leading a nonviolent campaign against racial segregation and racial injustice in the United States.

The Nobel Committee announced the award on October 14, 1964. King was recognized for his leadership of the civil-rights movement and his commitment to nonviolence influenced by Christian teachings and Mahatma Gandhi’s example. He was 35 years old, making him one of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipients at that time.

King received the prize in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 1964. He donated the $54,123 prize money to the civil-rights movement rather than keeping it personally.

The award came after major campaigns in Birmingham, Alabama, and Washington, D.C., and during the campaign for federal civil-rights legislation. It did not end racial discrimination; organized activism, legal challenges, voting campaigns, and federal enforcement continued for years afterward.