Vincent and I had the incredible privilege of attending the Nobel Peace Prize Awards Ceremony 2022 in Oslo, Norway on December 10.
My sister-in-law Berit Reiss-Andersen is the chair of the awards committee and during a dinner conversation in Paris last year, she invited us to come for the 2022 awards. I was beyond excited and have waited all year for the big day to arrive. In the past few weeks, I have shared about going to the awards with just about every person I have encountered in the last two months, practically telling strangers on the street.
We flew to Oslo on December 9, the day before the ceremony. We were required to wear a suit and tie, plus I had to wear real shoes, instead of sneakers, like I always wear. I can’t even remember the last time I wore a suit and tie, even pre-Covid. Here’s a blast from the past, about how it was wearing a pair of pointy, black oxfords after so many years. Does anybody remember the original La Cage Aux Folles film from 1978 (the American version, The Birdcage, from 1996, starred Robin Williams)? There’s a scene in the film, where they are trying to make a good impression on the bride’s family, by hosting a dinner. Their houseboy Jacob always walked through the house barefoot, but his bosses demand he wear shoes for the special occasion. In the following hilarious scenes in front of the prim and proper, bride’s family, Jacob keeps tripping every few minutes because he’s not used to wearing shoes. I thought the same thing would happen but luckily, I held my own all day, not tripping even once.
On December 10, we arrived at about noon at the Oslo City Hall overlooking the harbor. Once we went through security, there was a brief coffee and pastry reception before the awards. We were then seated in the massive public hall lined with beautiful murals and the stage was festively decorated with leaf sculptures in foliage colors. The ceremony commenced at exactly 1pm because it was telecast live around the world. Four soldiers dressed in red uniforms, descended the stairs from the balcony and played their bugles briefly, to welcome the royal family, the prime minister, Berit, and other important figures.
In a rare but not unheard-of occasion, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three recipients instead of one this year: Ales Bialiatski, a human rights activist from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Human Liberties.
Berit gave a speech commending and praising the winners, emphasizing their tireless and selfless efforts to uphold the human rights of their citizens and to criticize their governments when they fail to do so. The speech also focused on each of the groups common approach to exposing oppressors and perpetrators of war crimes by collecting evidence of past and present crimes with the purpose of holding the perpetrators accountable, honoring the victims and to prevent the crimes from happening again.
CLICK HERE to read her speech
After Berit’s speech, each recipient delivered their speech.
After Berit’s speech, each recipient delivered their speech. Ales Bialiatski is currently under severe restrictions in Russia, so his wife Natallia Pinchuk delivered a sobering speech plus pieced together previous texts and statements from Alesacknowledging other political and human rights activists and journalists, political scientists, and trade union leaders who are imprisoned.
Next was Jan Rachinsky, accepting the prize for Memorial, a thirty-five-year-old, human rights organization from Russia, which studies and examines human rights violations and crimes from the Stalin era in Russia in the early 20th century and current Russian human rights abuses, particularly in all Russian military operations. In his speech, Rachinsky spoke about the organization’s purpose and its ongoing work plus pointed out the challenges of three important issues concerning them today.
CLICK HERE to read his speech
The last award was given to the Center for Civil Liberties, and was accepted by Oleksandra Matviichuk, a young Ukrainian human rights lawyer. Her speech was the most moving, passionate, and timely of the speeches. She eloquently spoke about the Russian attack on Ukraine and even though there are no real solutions at the present time, she raised five questions about how the world can address and inquire into how to come up with a resolution.
CLICK HERE to read her speech
Oleksandra Matviichuk-Center for Civil Liberties
In between each award, there were various musicians and singers who performed musical pieces.
After the awards there was a luncheon at the Grand Hotel in the center of the city, where I sat with Berit, her son Joachim, his wife Camilla, his two children, Sebastian, 13 years old, and Eben, 9 years old, and Berit’s sister, Elizabeth. We discussed the wonderful ceremony at length, but also managed to have fun and speak about other, everyday things.
We spent the next few days having back-to-back lunches and a Norwegian Christmas dinner with the family. On Monday, Berit finally had a free day, after a hectic schedule during the last months for the awards. We went to the newly opened Munch Museum in a striking, contemporary building overlooking the harbor and viewed a good part of the collection, including an original version of The Scream. Afterwards, we visited the Nobel Peace Prize Museum, where Berit introduced us to the director, Kjersti Fløgstad, who generously took the time to give us a brief explanation about the purpose of the museum and its function. After Kjersti left us, we were given a fascinating and insightful tour of the museum.
Besides Berit’s position as the chair of the awards committee, she is a highly accomplished lawyer still practicing today, a former politician with the Norwegian Labour Party, former president of the Norwegian Bar Association, and the co-author of two best-selling crime novels with the former Minister of Justice, Anne Holt. Outside of her incredible career, Berit is a blast to be with and we have many good times in New York, Paris, Norway, London, and Amsterdam.
I am beyond proud of her remarkable accomplishments and feel incredibly fortunate to have her as part of my family for over 40 years.
For more information about the awards and the video of the ceremony, go to https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org
Moi, Berit, my nephew Sebastian, and Vincent
Moi, Berit, and Vincent
Merci for sharing these Nobel Peace Prize speeches…moving and inspirational. Bon chance for your connection and experience. The Kundra quote powerful to frequently recall too as America fights to preserve its own memories, esp the unpleasant ones.
Connie
(I met you during a delightful walk 6/2022 with my daughter and grandkids…my bon chance.)
Posted by: Constance Hafner Edwards | December 26, 2022 at 07:11 PM