Presentation Speech

Presentation Speech by Jørgen Gunnarsson Løvland, Chairman of the Nobel Committee, on December 10, 1908*

Fredrik Bajer was born in 1837. Like Tolstoy and many other fighters for peace, he began his career as an officer and from 1856 to 1865 was a lieutenant of Dragoons. He then began his study of foreign languages, becoming an elementary school teacher and later a translator. Already in the 1860's he was maintaining contact with the peace movement and was in touch with Frédéric Passy, who in 1867 founded the first French peace society¹. From 1872 to 1895, Bajer was a member of Parliament for Horsens and during that time did much work for the cause of peace and for women's rights.

Mr. Bajer has been an extraordinarily prolific writer, and in his many articles and pamphlets about and in favor of the cause of peace, he has dealt with practically all the problems involved in the peace movement. Norwegian newspapers have also enjoyed the benefit of his able pen.

Special mention should be made of his great study of the question of neutrality. In 1882 he was also responsible for the foundation of a peace society in Denmark, at first called the Society for the Promotion of Danish Neutrality and later the Danish Peace Society².

At a very early date Mr. Bajer took an active part in the European peace movement. In 1884 he participated in the International Congress in Bern and in 1889 he took part both in the International Congress and in the Interparliamentary Conference, held during the Great Exhibition in Paris; since then there have been few of these meetings in which he has not participated. It was at his instigation and suggestion that in 1891 a permanent International Peace Bureau was established in Bern. Bajer was president of its Board of Administration until last year when he declined reelection and was instead named honorary president.

Since 1891 Bajer has also had a seat on the council which controls the Interparliamentary Union.

He has always shown a great interest in cooperation between the Nordic countries in the cause of peace. He has invariably taken part in the Nordic peace meetings, and it is mainly due to his efforts that a Nordic Interparliamentary Union has been founded³.

Fredrik Bajer was nominated this year as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Danish Interparliamentary Group, among others, and, together with K.P. Arnoldson, by the Swedish Interparliamentary Group and a number of members of the Norwegian Parliament.

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* Mr. Løvland gave this biographical sketch of Mr. Bajer as the last part of his speech at the award ceremony in the Norwegian Nobel Institute on December 10, 1908. The first part of his speech (which included introductory remarks, the award announcement itself, and a similar sketch of Mr. K. P. Arnoldson, who shared the prize for 1908 with Mr. Bajer) will be found in the Presentation for Mr. Arnoldson. Since illness prevented Mr. Bajer from being present, his Nobel medal and diploma were accepted in his behalf by Mr. Grevenkop Castenskiold, the Danish minister. The translation of Mr. Løvland's speech is based on the Norwegian report of the speech published in the Oslo Morgenposten of December 11, 1908.

1. Frédéric Passy (1822-1912), co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1901, founded the Ligue internationale et permanente de la paix, later known as the Société des amis de la paix, and then as Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations.

2. The Danish title of the organization was Foreningen til Danmarks Neutralisering, later changed to Dansk Fredsforening.

3. In 1908.

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1901-1925, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972

 

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1908