Mahatma Gandhi, Peace Award

Peace Award for the affirmation of peace through non-violence

Gandhi, the greatest politician and spiritual leader of India and of the independence movement from the English colonial empire, known as Mahatma, the great soul, represents a point of reference for the builders of a world of peace, indispensable for growth of human conscience that can only arise from the united commitment of all men.

The Gandhi Prize is awarded to individuals or organizations who, with their actions and work, spread the ideas, principles and philosophical thought of Mohandas Gandhi through peaceful initiatives and non-violent methods, aimed at recognizing equal human dignity, freedom and equal inalienable rights of every man.

Humankind can free itself from violence only by resorting to non-violence. Hate can only be defeated with love.

• Born and dead

  Porbandar, October 2, 1869
  Nuova Delhi, January 30, 1948

• Nobel Prize nominations

  Nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize (1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948), he never received it.

• Short biography

  Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He was a major political, spiritual and social leader in the movement for India's independence from British rule. Gandhi developed and practiced the concept of Satyagraha, or nonviolent resistance, based on principles of truth and nonviolence (ahimsa). This approach has inspired civil rights movements around the world.
  
  Gandhi led several campaigns against unjust laws and for civil rights in India, including the famous Salt March of 1930, in which he protested against the British monopoly on salt. His leadership led to growing international awareness on the issue of Indian independence.
  
  Despite his non-violent positions, Gandhi was imprisoned several times by the British authorities. After years of struggle, India gained independence on August 15, 1947. However, the partition of the country into India and Pakistan led to violence that Gandhi tried to stop through fasts and calls for peace.
  
  Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who held him responsible for having given in too much to the Muslims. Today, Gandhi is remembered as the "Father of the Nation" in India and as a universal symbol of non-violence and social justice.