The First Black Person to Win a Nobel Prize
Ralph Bunche was the first black person in history to win a Nobel Prize. Here is a look at the life of an African-American Nobel Prize Winner.
Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1904, Ralph Bunch went on to become a world-famous United Nations diplomat, winning the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the 1949 armistice in the Middle East. Known for his perseverance and optimism, he rose to the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, continued negotiations for peaceful settlements, and contributed to civil rights struggles at home. Bunch died in New York City in 1971.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize for successfully brokering a series of ceasefire agreements between the (then) new state of Israel and its four Arab neighbors: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
This is one of the first and few instances where all parties to the Middle East conflict have signed a ceasefire agreement with Israel. Bunch was the first black and non-white person in the world to receive the Peace Prize.
At the time of his presentation, he was a professor at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, a member of the United Nations Council, and a mediator for Palestine.
