Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

The Forum

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Discover world history, culture and ideas with today’s leading experts

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The Forum: Bertha von Suttner: A champion of peace

Bertha von Suttner (nee Kinsky),c.1870

18/06/2020 GMT

Bertha von Suttner: A champion of peace

BBC World Service - The Forum, Bertha von Suttner: A champion of peace

The writer who became the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

The feisty writer and activist who inspired the Nobel Peace Prize and was its first female laureate.

Bertha von Suttner’s path to becoming a leading 19th-century pacifist and the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize was far from straightforward. The product of the aristocratic and militaristic world of 19th century Bohemia, as a young woman von Suttner eloped to the Caucasus and turned her hand to writing for a living. On her return to Europe she published an acclaimed anti-war novel, Lay Down Your Arms, a work that marked the start of her quest for disarmament. Her long friendship with Alfred Nobel finally bore fruit in the Swedish industrialist’s last will which included the Peace Prize.

Bridget Kendall is joined by Dr. Barbara Burns, Reader in German at Glasgow University, and the editor of a new English edition of Lay Down Your Arms; Dr. Peter van den Dungen, former Lecturer in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford and until recently General Coordinator of the International Network of Museums for Peace; and musician Stefan Frankenberger, the author of an audio book called The Unknown Soldier, In memory of Bertha von Suttner. 

[Photo: Bertha von Suttner (nee Kinsky),c.1870 Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images]

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Forum

Bertha von Suttner: A champion of peace

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service