2008 Nobel Peace Prize

The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Martti Ahtisaari. The prize was announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo on 10 October 2008.

The citation

The citation reads: "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts".

The laureate

Martti Ahtisaari was born in 1937 in Viipuri (now Vyborg), Finland.

Why it matters

The former president of Finland has worked to resolve conflicts from Namibia to Kosovo and Aceh in Indonesia.

The prize

The prize is worth 10 million Swedish kronor. It will be presented in Oslo on 10 December, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite whose will founded the prizes in 1895.