Four Freedoms Award
Encyclopedia
The Four Freedoms Award is an annual award presented to those men and women who have "demonstrated" an achievement to the principles lined out in the Four freedoms
speech president Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave to the US Congress on 6 January 1941. It is handed out in alternate years in New York
by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
and in Middelburg
by the Roosevelt Stichting.
. The awards were founded to celebrate the four freedoms espoused by president Roosevelt in his speech:
For each of the four freedoms an award was instituted, as well as a special Freedom award. In 1990, 1995, 2003 and 2004 there were also special awards.
In odd years the awards are presented to American citizens or institutions by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, New York. In even years the award ceremony is held in Middelburg and honours non-Americans.The choice for Middelburg was motivated by the suspected descendance of the family Roosevelt from Oud-Vossemeer
in the municipality Tholen.
By awarding them with the Local Four Freedoms award their work becomes known and respected, and will hopefully inspire people to join. The alternative awards were founded in 2008, and will be a bicentennial event that runs at the same years as the International Four Freedoms Awards, also in Middelburg, The Netherlands.
The recipients in 2008 were;
Four Freedoms
The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech , he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:# Freedom of speech and expression# Freedom of worship#...
speech president Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave to the US Congress on 6 January 1941. It is handed out in alternate years in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
The Roosevelt Institute is a progressive non-profit organization devoted to carrying forward the legacy and values of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt by developing progressive ideas and bold leadership in the service of restoring America's health and security...
and in Middelburg
Middelburg
Middelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
by the Roosevelt Stichting.
History
The awards were first presented in 1982 on the centenary of president Roosevelt's birth as well as the bicentenary of diplomatic relations between the United States and the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The awards were founded to celebrate the four freedoms espoused by president Roosevelt in his speech:
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of religion
- Freedom from want
- Freedom from fear
For each of the four freedoms an award was instituted, as well as a special Freedom award. In 1990, 1995, 2003 and 2004 there were also special awards.
In odd years the awards are presented to American citizens or institutions by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Hyde Park, New York. In even years the award ceremony is held in Middelburg and honours non-Americans.The choice for Middelburg was motivated by the suspected descendance of the family Roosevelt from Oud-Vossemeer
Oud-Vossemeer
Oud-Vossemeer is a village on the island of Tholen in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Tholen, and lies about 11 km northwest of Bergen op Zoom, close to the Eendracht, part of the Scheldt-Rhine Canal....
in the municipality Tholen.
Freedom Medal
- 2009 Hillary Rodham ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
- 2008 Richard von WeizsäckerRichard von WeizsäckerRichard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker , known as Richard von Weizsäcker, is a German politician . He served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984, and as President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994...
- 2007 Carl LevinCarl LevinCarl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
and Richard Lugar - 2006 Mohamed ElBaradei
- 2005 Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
- 2004 Kofi AnnanKofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
- 2003 George J. MitchellGeorge J. MitchellGeorge John Mitchell, Jr., is the former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace under the Obama administration. A Democrat, Mitchell was a United States Senator who served as the Senate Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995...
- 2002 Nelson MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
- 2001 The Veterans of World War II as represented by
- Richard WintersRichard WintersMajor Richard "Dick" D. Winters was a United States Army officer and decorated war veteran. He commanded Company "E", 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II....
(U.S. Army) - Robert Eugene Bush (U.S. Navy)
- William T. Ketcham (U.S. Marine Corps)
- Lee A. Archer, Jr. (U.S. Air Force)
- Ellen Buckley (U.S. Army Nurse Corps)
- Richard Winters
- 2000 Martti AhtisaariMartti AhtisaariMartti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
- 1999 Edward M. Kennedy
- 1998 Mary RobinsonMary RobinsonMary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
- 1997 Katharine Meyer Graham
- 1996 Juan Carlos of Spain
- 1995 President Jimmy CarterJimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
- 1994 Dalai Lama
- 1993 Cyrus VanceCyrus VanceCyrus Roberts Vance was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980...
- 1992 Javier Pérez de CuéllarJavier Pérez de CuéllarJavier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
- 1991 Thurgood MarshallThurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
- 1990 Václav HavelVáclav HavelVáclav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
and Jacques DelorsJacques DelorsJacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office .-French Politics:... - 1989 William J. Brennan, Jr.William J. Brennan, Jr.William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990...
- 1988 Helmut SchmidtHelmut SchmidtHelmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
- 1987 Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr
- 1986 Alessandro Pertini
- 1985 Claude PepperClaude PepperClaude Denson Pepper was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. In foreign policy he shifted from pro-Soviet in the 1940s to anti-Communist in the 1950s...
- 1984 Harold MacmillanHarold MacmillanMaurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
- 1983 W. Averell HarrimanW. Averell HarrimanWilliam Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
- 1982 H.R.H. Princess Juliana of the NetherlandsJuliana of the NetherlandsJuliana was the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980. She was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry...
Freedom of Speech
- 2008 Lakhdar BrahimiLakhdar BrahimiLakhdar Brahimi is a veteran United Nations envoy and advisor. He retired from his duties at the end of 2005. Brahimi is a member of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, the first global initiative to focus specifically on the link between exclusion, poverty and law...
- 2007 Bill MoyersBill MoyersBill Moyers is an American journalist and public commentator. He served as White House Press Secretary in the United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Administration from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a news commentator on television for ten years. Moyers has had an extensive involvement with public...
- 2006 Carlos FuentesCarlos FuentesCarlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...
- 2005 Tom BrokawTom BrokawThomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
- 2004 Lennart MeriLennart MeriLennart Georg Meri was a writer, film director and statesman who served as the second President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was a leader of the Estonian independence movement.-Early life:...
- 2003 Studs TerkelStuds TerkelLouis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
- 2002 Radio Free EuropeRadio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
and Radio Liberty - 2001 New York Times and the Ochs/Sulzberger Family
- 2000 Bronisław Geremek
- 1999 John LewisJohn Lewis (politician)John Robert Lewis is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1987. He was a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , playing a key role in the struggle to end segregation...
- 1998 CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
- 1997 Sidney R. YatesSidney R. YatesSidney Richard Yates was a politician from the state of Illinois.Yates was born in Chicago, Illinois and he graduated from the University of Chicago. He served in the United States Navy during World War II....
- 1996 John HumeJohn HumeJohn Hume is a former Irish politician from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David Trimble....
- 1995 Mary McGroryMary McGroryMary McGrory was a liberal American journalist and columnist. She was a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War and was on Richard Nixon's enemies list for writing "daily hate Nixon articles."...
- 1994 Marion DönhoffMarion DönhoffMarion Hedda Ilse Gräfin von Dönhoff was a German journalist who participated in the resistance against Hitler's National Socialists with Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, and Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. After the war, she became one of the leading German...
- 1993 Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
- 1992 Mstislav RostropovichMstislav RostropovichMstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...
- 1991 James RestonJames RestonJames Barrett Reston , nicknamed "Scotty," was an American journalist whose career spanned the mid 1930s to the early 1990s. He was associated for many years with the New York Times.-Life:...
- 1990 No Award
- 1989 Walter CronkiteWalter CronkiteWalter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
- 1988 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
- 1987 Herbert Block
- 1986 El Pais
- 1985 Dr. Kenneth B. Clark
- 1984 Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
- 1983 Joseph L. Rauh, Jr.Joseph L. Rauh, Jr.Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. was one of the United States' foremost civil rights and civil liberties lawyers. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Bill Clinton on November 30, 1993.-Early life:Rauh was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the...
- 1982 Max van der StoelMax van der StoelMax van der Stoel, KCMG was a Dutch politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. He served as the first High Commissioner on National Minorities of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe....
Freedom of Worship
- 2008 Karen ArmstrongKaren ArmstrongKaren Armstrong FRSL , is a British author and commentator who is the author of twelve books on comparative religion. A former Roman Catholic nun, she went from a conservative to a more liberal and mystical faith...
- 2007 Peter J. GomesPeter J. GomesPeter John Gomes was an American preacher and theologian,the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard Divinity School and Pusey Minister at Harvard's Memorial Church—in the words of Harvard's president "one of the great preachers of our generation, and a living symbol of courage and...
- 2006 Taizé CommunityTaizé CommunityThe Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order in Taizé, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. It is composed of about 100 brothers who come from Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions. The brothers come from about 30 countries across the world. The monastic order has a strong...
- 2005 Cornel WestCornel WestCornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
- 2004 Sari NusseibehSari NusseibehSari Nusseibeh , and raised in Jerusalem, is a Palestinian professor of philosophy and president of the Al-Quds University in Jerusalem...
- 2003 Robert F. Drinan
- 2002 Nasr Abu ZaydNasr Abu ZaydNasr Hamid Abu Zayd was an Egyptian Qur'anic thinker and one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam. He is famous for his project of a humanistic Qur'anic hermeneutics.- Biography :...
- 2001 Johnnie CarrJohnnie CarrJohnnie Rebecca Daniels Carr was a leader in the Civil Rights movement in the United States from 1955 until her death....
- 2000 Cicely SaundersCicely SaundersDame Cicely Mary Saunders, was a prominent Anglican, nurse, physician and writer, involved with many international universities...
- 1999 Corinne C. Boggs
- 1998 Desmond TutuDesmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
- 1997 William H. Gray
- 1996 Lord Runcie
- 1995 Andrew YoungAndrew YoungAndrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations...
- 1994 Gerhart M RiegnerGerhart M RiegnerGerhart Moritz Riegner was the secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress from 1965 to 1983. On August 8, 1942, he sent the so-called Riegner Telegram through diplomatic channels to Stephen Samuel Wise, president of the World Jewish Congress...
- 1993 Theodore M. HesburghTheodore HesburghThe Rev. Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC, STD , a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, is President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. He is the namesake for TIAA-CREF's Hesburgh Award....
, CSCCongregation of Holy CrossThe Congregation of Holy Cross or Congregatio a Sancta Cruce is a Catholic congregation of priests and brothers founded in 1837 by Blessed Father Basil Anthony-Marie Moreau, CSC, in Le Mans, France.... - 1992 Terry WaiteTerry WaiteTerry Waite CBE is an English humanitarian and author.Waite was Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie's Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he travelled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages including journalist John...
- 1991 Paul Moore, Jr.
- 1990 László TőkésLászló TokésLászló Tőkés is a Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament ....
- 1989 Raphael LemkinRaphael LemkinRaphael Lemkin was a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent. He is best known for his work against genocide, a word he coined in 1943 from the root words genos and -cide...
(posthumously) and Hyman Bookbinder - 1988 Teddy KollekTeddy KollekTheodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...
- 1987 Leon SullivanLeon SullivanLeon Howard Sullivan was a Baptist minister, a civil rights leader and social activist focusing on the creation of job training opportunities for African-Americans, a longtime General Motors Board Member, and an anti-Apartheid activist. Sullivan died on April 24, 2001, of leukemia at a Scottsdale,...
- 1986 Bernardus Alfrink
- 1985 Elie WieselElie WieselSir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
- 1984 Werner Leich and Christiann F. Beyers NaudeBeyers NaudéChristiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé was a South African cleric, theologian and the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist...
- 1983 Coretta Scott KingCoretta Scott KingCoretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...
- 1982 Willem A. Visser 't HooftWillem Visser 't HooftWillem Adolph Visser 't Hooft was a Dutch theologian who became the first secretary general of the World Council of Churches in 1948 and held this position until his retirement in 1966.- Biography :...
Freedom from Want
- 2008 Jan EgelandJan EgelandJan Egeland was the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from June 2003 to December 2006. Egeland was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and succeeded Kenzo Oshima...
- 2007 Barbara EhrenreichBarbara Ehrenreich-Early life:Ehrenreich was born Barbara Alexander to Isabelle Oxley and Ben Howes Alexander in Butte, Montana, which she describes as then being "a bustling, brawling, blue collar mining town."...
- 2006 Muhammad YunusMuhammad YunusMuhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...
, Grameen BankGrameen BankThe Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral... - 2005 Marsha J. Evans
- 2004 Marguerite BarankitseMarguerite Barankitse-Humanitarian work:Barankitse began providing food and shelter to 25 children on October 25, 1993, one of the worst days of the Burundi Civil War. She saw many people brutally killed before her very own eyes and gathered 25 children who were there as well so she could help them...
- 2003 Dolores HuertaDolores HuertaDolores C. Huerta is the co-founder and First Vice President Emeritus of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO , and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Early life:...
- 2002 Gro Harlem BrundtlandGro Harlem BrundtlandGro Harlem Brundtland is a Norwegian Social democratic politician, diplomat, and physician, and an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Prime Minister of Norway , and has served as the Director General of the World Health Organization...
- 2001 March of DimesMarch of DimesThe March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...
- 2000 M. S. SwaminathanM. S. SwaminathanMaankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan is an Indian agriculture scientist in Kuttanad, kerala. He was the second of four sons of a doctor.He is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India", for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in...
- 1999 George S. McGovern
- 1998 Stéphane HesselStéphane HesselStéphane Frédéric Hessel is a diplomat, ambassador, writer, concentration camp survivor, former French Resistance fighter and BCRA agent. Born German, he became a naturalised French citizen in 1939...
- 1997 Mark O. Hatfield
- 1996 Médecins Sans FrontièresMédecins Sans Frontières' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
- 1995 Lane KirklandLane KirklandJoseph Lane Kirkland was a US labor union leader who served as President of the AFL-CIO for over sixteen years.-Biography:...
- 1994 Sadako OgataSadako Ogata, is a Japanese academic, diplomat, author, administrator and professor emeritus at Sophia University.-Early life:Sadako Nakamura was born in 1927...
- 1993 Eunice Kennedy ShriverEunice Kennedy ShriverEunice Kennedy Shriver, DSG a member of the Kennedy family, sister to President John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, was the founder in 1962 of Camp Shriver, and in 1968, the Special Olympics...
and Sargent ShriverSargent ShriverRobert Sargent Shriver, Jr., known as Sargent Shriver, R. Sargent Shriver, or, from childhood, Sarge, was an American statesman and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family, serving in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations... - 1992 Jan TinbergenJan TinbergenJan Tinbergen , was a Dutch economist. He was awarded the first Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1969, which he shared with Ragnar Frisch for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes...
- 1991 Paul NewmanPaul NewmanPaul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
and Joanne WoodwardJoanne WoodwardJoanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman... - 1990 Emile van Lennep
- 1989 Dr. Dorothy I. Height
- 1988 Dr. Halfdan T. MahlerHalfdan T. MahlerHalfdan T. Mahler, born on 21 April 1923 at Vivild, is a Danish medical doctor. Dr. Mahler served three terms as director-general of the World Health Organization and is widely known for his effort to combat tuberculosis and his role in shaping the landmark Alma Ata Declaration that defined the...
- 1987 Mary LaskerMary LaskerMary Woodard Lasker was an American health activist. She worked to raise funds for medical research, and founded the Lasker Foundation....
- 1986 F. Bradford MorseF. Bradford MorseFrank Bradford Morse was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. He had a notable career in the United States Congress and the United Nations. On Capitol Hill he served in various capacities for nearly twenty years, the last twelve as Congressman from Lowell,...
- 1985 Dr. John Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth GalbraithJohn Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith , OC was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism...
- 1984 Liv Ullman
- 1983 Robert S. McNamara
- 1982 H. Johannes WitteveenH. Johannes WitteveenHendrikus Johannes "Johan" Witteveen is a retired Dutch economist, emeritus professor and politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy...
Freedom from Fear
- 2008 Willemijn Verloop - War ChildWar Child (charity)War Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK 1993, which focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict. They use their film and entertainment background to raise money for aid agencies operating in former Yugoslavia...
- 2007 Brent ScowcroftBrent ScowcroftBrent Scowcroft, KBE was the United States National Security Advisor under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush and a Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force. He also served as Military Assistant to President Richard Nixon and as Deputy Assistant to the President for National...
- 2006 Aung San Suu KyiAung San Suu KyiAung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
- 2005 Lee H. HamiltonLee H. HamiltonLee Herbert Hamilton is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and currently a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the Democratic Party, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999...
and Thomas KeanThomas KeanThomas Howard Kean is an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 48th Governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Kean is best known globally, however, for his 2002 appointment as Chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, widely known as the... - 2004 Max KohnstammMax KohnstammMax Kohnstamm was a Dutch historian and diplomat.Max Kohnstamm is the son of Philip Kohnstamm, a physicist, philosopher and pedagogue of Jewish-German origin...
- 2003 Robert C. Byrd
- 2002 Ernesto ZedilloErnesto ZedilloErnesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
- 2001 The Veterans of World War II as represented by
- Richard WintersRichard WintersMajor Richard "Dick" D. Winters was a United States Army officer and decorated war veteran. He commanded Company "E", 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II....
(U.S. Army) - Robert E. Bush (U.S. Navy)
- William T. Ketcham (U.S. Marine Corps)
- Lee A. Archer, Jr. (U.S. Air Force)
- Ellen Buckley (U.S. Army Nurse Corps)
- Richard Winters
- 2000 Louise ArbourLouise ArbourLouise Arbour, is the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda...
- 1999 Robert O. Muller
- 1998 Craig KielburgerCraig KielburgerCraig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...
- 1997 Daniel K. Inouye
- 1996 Shimon PeresShimon PeresGCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
- 1995 Elliot RichardsonElliot RichardsonElliot Lee Richardson was an American lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S...
- 1994 Zdravko Grebo
- 1993 George BallGeorge BallGeorge Wildman Ball was an American diplomat.-Biography:Ball was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He lived in Evanston, Illinois and graduated from Northwestern University....
- 1992 Lord Carrington
- 1991 Mike MansfieldMike MansfieldMichael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...
- 1990 Simon WiesenthalSimon WiesenthalSimon Wiesenthal KBE was an Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a Nazi hunter....
- 1989 J. William FulbrightJ. William FulbrightJames William Fulbright was a United States Senator representing Arkansas from 1945 to 1975.Fulbright was a Southern Democrat and a staunch multilateralist who supported the creation of the United Nations and the longest serving chairman in the history of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee...
- 1988 Dr. Armand HammerArmand HammerArmand Hammer was an American business tycoon most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran for decades, though he was known as well as for his art collection, his philanthropy, and for his close ties to the Soviet Union.Thanks to business interests around the world and his...
- 1987 Dr. George KennanGeorge F. KennanGeorge Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...
- 1986 Olof PalmeOlof PalmeSven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
(posthumously) - 1985 Dr. Isidor Rabi
- 1984 Brian UrquhartBrian UrquhartSir Brian Urquhart, KCMG, MBE is a former Undersecretary-General of the United Nations. He is also a World War II veteran and an author.-Early life:...
- 1983 Jacob K. JavitsJacob K. JavitsJacob Koppel "Jack" Javits was a politician who served as United States Senator from New York from 1957 to 1981. A liberal Republican, he was originally allied with Governor Nelson Rockefeller, fellow U.S...
- 1982 J. Herman van Roijen
Special presentations
- 2008 Forrest Church
- 2006 Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
- 2003 Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
- 2002 William J. vanden HeuvelWilliam vanden HeuvelWilliam Jacobus vanden Heuvel is an attorney, businessman and author, as well as a former diplomat.He is the father of Katrina vanden Heuvel, longtime editor of The Nation magazine, and Wendy vanden Heuvel, children from his marriage to author/editor Jean Stein, the well-to-do daughter of Jules C...
- 1995 Ruud LubbersRuud LubbersRudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from November 4, 1982 until August 22, 1994....
- 1990 Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
Alternative Awards
The Four Freedoms Awards Zeeland, an initiative taken by Ariane van der Windt, Laura de Landgraaf and Brittany van der Does, three Roosevelt Academy students. As Eleanor Roosevelt stated "Where do human rights begin after all? In small places, close to home." and that is exactly what the Four Freedoms Zeeland will accomplish. Not only people working at an international level demonstrate great achievements according to the four freedoms speech, also smaller institutions and people at a local level make a difference.By awarding them with the Local Four Freedoms award their work becomes known and respected, and will hopefully inspire people to join. The alternative awards were founded in 2008, and will be a bicentennial event that runs at the same years as the International Four Freedoms Awards, also in Middelburg, The Netherlands.
The recipients in 2008 were;
- Freedom of speech: The posters of Goesje and Walchje, for voicing the opinion on the fusion of two hospitals.
- Freedom of worship: Manifestation Nieuw Zout, for organizing events that combine different cultures and religions.
- Freedom from want: Primary school 'Ravensteijn', for going the extra mile to make sure that the less unfortunate kids are taken care of.
- Freedom from fear: Vluchtenlingenwerk Zeeland, for helping immigrants with so much more than legal issues.