October 5, 1989

14th Dalai Lama

Norwegian Nobel Committee names the 14th Dalai Lama the 1989 Peace Prize laureate

The news reached him at about six in the morning in a Newport Beach house — not at his exile headquarters in India.

Oslo announces; California wakes

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in Oslo on 5 October 1989 that the year’s Peace Prize would go solely to the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, then 54.

He was in Newport Beach, California, for a peace conference, and took the news at about 6 a.m. local time. His personal secretary, Tenzin Geyche Tethong, reported that his own initial reaction was restrained even as colleagues celebrated.

What the citation said

The committee cited his consistent opposition to violence and his advocacy of peaceful solutions based on tolerance and mutual respect, in order to preserve Tibetans’ historical and cultural heritage.

It also highlighted his ideas of universal responsibility and his proposals on international conflict, human rights and global environmental problems. Chairman Egil Aarvik defended nonviolence as the equitable means available for addressing Tibet.

An announcement, not a ceremony

At a same-day press conference the Dalai Lama said the honour should give Tibetans courage. Chinese officials objected that the award interfered in China’s internal affairs.

The prize was awarded whole to one laureate, and contemporary reports put its value at US$469,000. The formal presentation stayed on the calendar for 10 December in Oslo.

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