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]

Not to be confused with IRI Freedom Award, Association of Former Intelligence Officers Freedom Award, or Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.
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
Year Image Recipient Nationality References
1957 A smiling, older man in a dark suit with a narrow-striped shirt and wide-striped tie. He has receding but long, wavy hair. 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
  • 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
  1. "IRC Freedom Award". International Rescue Committee. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  2. "IRC at a glance". International Rescue Committee. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  3. "The Nobel Peace Prize 1971". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  4. "Give Churchill Freedom Award". Gettysburg Times. 1958-05-30. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  5. Krebs, Albin (1981-04-07). "Notes on people; Kirklands to Get Awards". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  6. "Statements by Chinese Dissidents and Beijing". The New York Times. 1990-06-26. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  7. "High Commissioner and Angelina Jolie to receive IRC Freedom Award". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  8. "Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi". BBC News. 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  9. "UN refugee agency, Angelina Jolie receive Freedom Award". United Nations. 2007-11-08. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  10. "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. "Walesa says West to blame if Poland fails". Times-News. 1989-11-17. p. 2. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  12. "Madeleine Albright receives International Rescue Committee's Freedom Award". International Rescue Committee. 1999-11-10. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  13. "Austria's Kreisky Will Get Freedom Award". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. 1975-04-10. p. 35. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  14. "Press Release – SG/SM/7625". United Nations. 2000-11-15. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  15. "Social Events". The New York Times. 1991-11-03. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  16. "Benefits". The New York Times. 1994-11-20. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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". Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  28. "Governor Scott Joins Venezuelan Expats In Doral; Says Maduro, 'Thugs' Have To Go". 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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