Anwar al-Sadat
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat
The Nobel Peace Prize 1978
Born: 25 December 1918, Mit Abu al-Kawm, Egypt
Died: 6 October 1981, Cairo, Egypt
Residence at the time of the award: Egypt
Role: President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Prize motivation: “for jointly having negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel in 1978”
Prize share: 1/2
For a Peace Treaty with Israel
In October 1981, President Sadat of Egypt was murdered by persons who were opposed to his policy of reconciliation with Israel and his close links with the United States. Sadat shared the Peace Prize with Israel's Prime Minister Begin after having taken the initiative in negotiating a peace treaty between the two countries. The so-called Camp David Accords came about thanks to the mediation efforts of US President Jimmy Carter.
Anwar el-Sadat had military training. In World War II he fought against the British dominance of Egypt and was imprisoned for several years. After the war he joined the officers who under Nasser's leadership deposed the pro-English King Farouk in 1952.
Nasser died a few years after Egypt's defeat by Israel in 1967, and Sadat took over as President. He broke Egypt's links with the Soviet Union, and sought US support in recovering territories lost to Israel. In the autumn of 1977 Sadat undertook a bold journey to Jerusalem, where he offered Begin a peace treaty in return for recovery of the occupied Sinai peninsula.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
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