Who won the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize?

Bertha von Suttner won the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize.

Von Suttner was an Austrian-Czech writer and peace activist whose 1889 novel Die Waffen nieder!, published in English as Lay Down Your Arms, became an influential anti-war work. The book portrayed the human consequences of armed conflict and helped bring peace advocacy to a broad reading public.

She had worked briefly as Alfred Nobel’s secretary in Paris in 1876. Their continued correspondence contributed to Nobel’s interest in peace, and von Suttner later became one of the strongest public advocates for the peace prize established in his will.

Von Suttner was the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She supported international arbitration, disarmament and the creation of institutions to resolve disputes between states. She is sometimes confused with Jane Addams, who won the Peace Prize in 1931, or with Theodore Roosevelt, the 1906 laureate.