OSLO, Norway (Reuters) - The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee after World War Two helped block a peace prize to India's Mahatma Gandhi and even opposed an award to the Red Cross, according to a hitherto unpublished diary.
Excerpts of Gunnar Jahn's diary, made available to Reuters, give an unprecedented glimpse into arguments and rivalries in the secretive five-member committee which controls what many consider the world's most prestigious award.
Jahn served on the committee from 1942-66, was a head of the central bank and a leader of the resistance to the Nazis who occupied Norway during the war. His typed diary has been locked in the Nobel Institute under a 50-secrecy rule.
``This diary is the only direct source of the committee's internal deliberations,'' said Geir Lundestad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. ``It gives a clear impression of (Jahn's) style -- he seemed a grumpy man.''
In 1947, for instance, two of the five members wanted to give Mahatma Gandhi the prize for his philosophy of passive resistance that won India independence from Britain that year -- the first documentary evidence of how close Mahatma Gandhi came to winning.
Mahatma Gandhi's omission from the list of laureates is often considered the worst error in the history of the prize, first awarded in 1901. Historians say Norway's gratitude to Britain after the war and a trace of racism may have deprived Mahatma Gandhi of the award.
Jahn, an opponent of giving Mahatma Gandhi the prize, said he told committee members about Mahatma Gandhi: ``He is obviously the greatest personality proposed and there are very, very many good things to say about Gandhi. But we must remember that he is not only an apostle of peace, he is also a nationalist.''
Jahn said he was worried, after two committee members came out in favor of Mahatma Gandhi, that former foreign minister Birger Braadland, might also vote for him and hand him the prize.
When Braadland did not, Jahn said he had understood international relations.
Martin Tranmael, another committee member opposed to Mahatma Gandhi, said warring between India and Pakistan after the collapse of the British Raj in 1947 had to be resolved first.
The 1947 prize ended up going two main Quaker organizations, the Friends Service Council of Britain and the American Friends Service Committee. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 -- a year Jahn made no entry in his diary.
Excerpts of Gunnar Jahn's diary, made available to Reuters, give an unprecedented glimpse into arguments and rivalries in the secretive five-member committee which controls what many consider the world's most prestigious award.
Jahn served on the committee from 1942-66, was a head of the central bank and a leader of the resistance to the Nazis who occupied Norway during the war. His typed diary has been locked in the Nobel Institute under a 50-secrecy rule.
``This diary is the only direct source of the committee's internal deliberations,'' said Geir Lundestad, director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. ``It gives a clear impression of (Jahn's) style -- he seemed a grumpy man.''
In 1947, for instance, two of the five members wanted to give Mahatma Gandhi the prize for his philosophy of passive resistance that won India independence from Britain that year -- the first documentary evidence of how close Mahatma Gandhi came to winning.
Mahatma Gandhi's omission from the list of laureates is often considered the worst error in the history of the prize, first awarded in 1901. Historians say Norway's gratitude to Britain after the war and a trace of racism may have deprived Mahatma Gandhi of the award.
Jahn, an opponent of giving Mahatma Gandhi the prize, said he told committee members about Mahatma Gandhi: ``He is obviously the greatest personality proposed and there are very, very many good things to say about Gandhi. But we must remember that he is not only an apostle of peace, he is also a nationalist.''
Jahn said he was worried, after two committee members came out in favor of Mahatma Gandhi, that former foreign minister Birger Braadland, might also vote for him and hand him the prize.
When Braadland did not, Jahn said he had understood international relations.
Martin Tranmael, another committee member opposed to Mahatma Gandhi, said warring between India and Pakistan after the collapse of the British Raj in 1947 had to be resolved first.
The 1947 prize ended up going two main Quaker organizations, the Friends Service Council of Britain and the American Friends Service Committee. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 -- a year Jahn made no entry in his diary.
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