Bono, Bob Geldof Up for Nobel Again (E! Online)
Comments(2) For the second year in a row, and third time in four years, the U2 frontman has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his continuing efforts to erase poverty, debt and disease in developing countries. The nod comes just over a month after he was named one of Time’s Persons of the Year for his nonmusical endeavors.
[…]
Bono is joined on the ballot by a fellow do-gooder musician, Bob Geldof. The former Boomtown Rat was recognized for organizing last summer’s historic Live 8 concerts that attempted to pressue the G8 to enact Third World debt relief. Other big-name Nobel contenders include former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for his peacemaking efforts to try and bring an end to Sudan’s civil war.
[Interesting! I am aware that humanities-related categories exist for the Nobel Prize, but more often than not, that coveted award usually goes to scientists. Seeing Bono and Geldof on a ballot tells me that things have come a long way since Watson and Crick discovered the Double Helix. BK]
category: Popular Culture
There are 6 different categories for the Nobel Prize; physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics. Check out nobelprize.org for more info.
Why the focus on science? Nobel himself was a scientist, and in fact a chemist. He developed dynamite in the 1860’s and decided to start a foundation that rewarded advances in the above mentioned categories.
Other famous peace prize winners include Elie Wiesel (author of “Night”), Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, Mikhail Gorbachev and even our own Jimmy Carter. More politicians then humanitarians in most cases but it should be interesting to see what happens this year.
I remember Toni Morrison winning one in 1993 and Harold Pinter won it last year.