Mazaj News (Web Desk) The Nobel Peace Prize remains permanently associated with the individual or organization that receives it, even though the physical medal can be transferred, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday. This statement followed last year’s laureate giving her medal to US President Donald Trump.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado presented her medal to Trump on Thursday. The US president thanked her for it, and the White House released a photo showing Trump holding the medal in a gold-colored frame. According to a White House official, Trump plans to keep it.
Machado’s award also included a diploma and a monetary prize of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately $1.19 million).
“Regardless of the fate of the medal, diploma, or prize money, the laureate remains the official recipient recorded in history,” the Nobel Committee said in a statement.
The committee added that the Nobel Foundation’s rules do not restrict what a laureate can do with the medal, diploma, or prize money. “This means that recipients are free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items,” the statement said.
‘Permanently linked’
The medal and diploma serve as physical proof that the prize has been awarded, explained the five-member committee.
“The honor and recognition of the prize remain inseparably linked to the individual or organization officially designated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee,” it added.
The committee did not specifically mention Trump or Machado and noted that it does not comment on any laureate’s actions or decisions after the prize is announced.
This is not the first instance of a Nobel laureate giving away their medal. In 1943, Nobel Literature laureate Knut Hamsun presented his medal to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
In 2022, Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov sold his medal for $100 million to raise funds for UNICEF to support Ukrainian refugee children.
In 2024, the widow of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan donated his 2001 Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma to the UN office in Geneva.