September
22, 1950
Dr.
Ralph Bunche Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. Ralph Bunche was named
as the winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first
African-American to win the award. Bunche was honored for his work in brokering
ceasefire agreements between Israel and her Arab neighbors.
Beginning in 1947, Bunche
was involved with trying to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. He served as
assistant to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, and thereafter
as the principal secretary of the UN Palestine Commission. In 1948, he traveled
to the Middle East as the chief aide to Sweden's Count Folke Bernadotte, who
had been appointed by the UN to mediate the conflict. In September 1948,
Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem by members of the underground Jewish
Lehi group, which was led by Yitzhak Shamir. Following the assassination,
Bunche became the UN's chief mediator. The representative for Israel was Moshe
Dayan.
For achieving the 1949
Armistice Agreements, Dr. Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize. He continued
to work for the United Nations, mediating in other strife-torn regions,
including the Congo, Yemen, Kashmir, and Cyprus. Bunche was appointed as
undersecretary-general in 1968.
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