International Peace Bureau For a World Without War Bureau International de la Paix About IPB History ... Site Map IPB Nobel Prize Winners Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner (June 9, 1843-June 21, 1914), born Countess Kinsky in Prague, was the posthumous daughter of a field marshal. In 1891 she was responsible for the creation of the Permanent International Peace Bureau in Berne. in 1892 she promised to keep Alfred Nobel informed on the progress of the peace movement and, if possible, to convince him of its effectiveness. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. In August of 1913, already affected by beginning illness, the Baroness spoke at the International Peace Congress at The Hague where she was greatly honored as the 'generalissimo' of the peace movement. In May of 1914 she was still able to take an interest in preparations being made for the twenty-first Peace Congress, planned for Vienna in September. But her illness - suspected cancer - developed rapidly thereafter, and she died on June 21, 1914, two months before the erupting of the world war she had warned and struggled against. Frédéric Passy , France (IPB Council member) Elie Ducommun , Switzerland (first IPB Secretary-General) Albert Gobat , Switzerland (second IPB Secretary-General) Bertha von Suttner , Austria (IPB Vice-President) Ernesto Moneta , Italy (IPB Council member) Fredrik Bajer , Denmark (first IPB President) Alfred Fried , Austria, (IPB Council member) Henri Lafontaine , Belgium (IPB President) | |
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