Nobel Peace Prize Recipient. Fredrik Bajer shared the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize with Klas Pontus Arnoldson from Sweden. He was a soldier, politician, organizer and a world-wide known peace activist. Born in the Danish village of Vester Egede to father who was a priest, he entered military school at age seventeen, and in 1856 he joined the army as a lieutenant in the Dragoons. During the 1864 war against Prussia and Austria, he commanded troops and won respect for his ability and conduct. After leaving the military, he entered politics in 1872 and was elected to the Danish House of Representatives, where he retained his seat for the next 23 years. His main causes in his political life were international peace and Danish neutrality, Scandinavian unity, women's rights, and education. For two years, he edited a weekly journal, published by the Society of Nordic Free States. Bajer rapidly became a major figure in the international peace movement, and at the second World Peace Congress in London in 1890, he proposed the creation of a permanent bureau with headquarters in Bern. This proposal was approved at the congress in Rome in 1891, and he was named the first president of the governing board. Owning to ill health, he resigned from active office in 1907, becoming honorary president of the Peace Bureau.
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient. Fredrik Bajer shared the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize with Klas Pontus Arnoldson from Sweden. He was a soldier, politician, organizer and a world-wide known peace activist. Born in the Danish village of Vester Egede to father who was a priest, he entered military school at age seventeen, and in 1856 he joined the army as a lieutenant in the Dragoons. During the 1864 war against Prussia and Austria, he commanded troops and won respect for his ability and conduct. After leaving the military, he entered politics in 1872 and was elected to the Danish House of Representatives, where he retained his seat for the next 23 years. His main causes in his political life were international peace and Danish neutrality, Scandinavian unity, women's rights, and education. For two years, he edited a weekly journal, published by the Society of Nordic Free States. Bajer rapidly became a major figure in the international peace movement, and at the second World Peace Congress in London in 1890, he proposed the creation of a permanent bureau with headquarters in Bern. This proposal was approved at the congress in Rome in 1891, and he was named the first president of the governing board. Owning to ill health, he resigned from active office in 1907, becoming honorary president of the Peace Bureau.
Bio by: Erik Skytte
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