Freedom Award

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Update Template:Infobox award The International Rescue Committee (IRC) bestows its Freedom Award for extraordinary contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom. According to the IRC, "The Freedom Award reveals the remarkable ability of an individual to shape history and change for the better a world moving toward freedom for all."<ref name=irc/>

The IRC was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and made its first Freedom Award in 1957, to German politician Willy Brandt, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following year, the award was presented to Winston Churchill, British prime minister during the Second World War, for his "dedicated and devoted service to the cause of human liberty".<ref name=churchill/> The first joint recipients of the award were Lane Kirkland and his wife Irena who won the prize in 1981.<ref name=first/> Lane was honored for his "long devotion to the cause of refugees" while Irena was described as "very much a human rights activist".<ref name=first/> Chinese dissidents Li Shuxian and Fang Lizhi were jointly honored in 1991;<ref name=irc/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> two American Presidents, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton took the prize as a pair in 2005, and film actress Angelina Jolie and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees High Commissioner António Guterres received the award together in 2007.<ref name=unhcr/>

Since the first award presentation in 1957, the IRC has made it to 46 recipients, 24 of which were American; the majority of awards have been to politicians. The 1995 presentation was made in absentia to Burmese pro-democracy campaigner and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, Aung San Suu Kyi.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=un/> The 2011 award ceremony was held in New York City, at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in November, where the presentation was made to the Brokaw family.<ref name=recent>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, John C. Whitehead received the prize for a second time, the only person to do so.<ref name=irc/>

Recipients

Year	Image	Recipient	Nationality	References
1957	A smiling, older man in a dark suit with a narrow-striped shirt and wide-striped tie. He has receding but long, wavy hair.	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=first>Template:Cite web</ref>
1958	File:Sir Winston S Churchill.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=churchill>Template:Cite web</ref>
1959	File:William Donovan.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc>Template:Cite web</ref>
1960	File:Lt com r e byrd.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1965	File:George Meany.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=lech/>
1966	File:David Dubinsky.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1967	File:DavidSarnoff 1922.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=albright/>
1969	File:GEN Lucius D. Clay portrait (cropped).jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1970	File:Jacob Javits portrait.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=albright/>
1975	File:Kreisky-Koechler-Vienna-1980 Crop.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1976	—	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1977	File:Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=lech/>
1978	—	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1979	—	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[A]	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1981	File:Lkirkland.jpg	Template:Sortname Irena Kirkland	Template:Flag Template:Flag	<ref name=first/>
1987	File:Elie Wiesel 2009.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=lech/>
1987	File:John C Whitehead.png	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1989	File:Sadruddin Aga Khan (1991) by Erling Mandelmann.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag Template:Flag Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1989	File:Lech Walesa - 2009.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=lech>Template:Cite web</ref>
1990		Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1991	—	Template:Sortname and his wife Li Shuxian	Template:Flag Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1991	File:Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (1982).jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992	File:CyrusVanceSoS.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=albright/>
1993	File:George Soros - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2010.jpg	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[B]	Template:Flag	<ref name=unhcr>Template:Cite web</ref>
1993	—	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[C]	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1994	—	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[B]	Template:Flag	<ref name=eightyfour>Template:Cite web</ref>
1994	—	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[C]	Template:Flag	<ref name=eightyfour/>
1995	File:Aung San Suu Kyi 17 November 2011.jpg	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[D]	Template:Flag	<ref name=un/>
1995	File:Sadako Ogata.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=un/>
1995	File:Holbrooke-Amtsfoto 1-293x400.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=irc/>
1997	—	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=albright/>
1999	File:Albrightmadeleine.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=albright>Template:Cite web</ref>
2001	File:John McCain official portrait 2009.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002	—	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002	File:Hamid Karzai in February 2009.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2003	File:Václav Havel.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=un/>
2004	File:Darfur-Rally 019.jpg	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[B]	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2005	File:George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped 2).jpg File:Bill Clinton.jpg	Template:Sortname Bill Clinton	Template:Flag Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2006	File:Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf detail 071024-D-9880W-027.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2007	File:António Guterres.jpg File:Angelina Jolie at Davos crop.jpg	Template:Sortname Angelina Jolie	Template:Flag Template:Flag	<ref name=un>Template:Cite web</ref>
2008	File:Kofi Annan.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2011	File:Tom Brokaw by David Shankbone.jpg	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref name=recent/>
2012	File:John C Whitehead.png	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013	File:George Soros - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2010.jpg	Template:SortnameTemplate:Anchor[B]	Template:Flag	<ref name="unhcr"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2014		The humanitarian aid worker		<ref>Honoring the humanitarian aid worker Template:Webarchive, Rescue, 2014</ref>
2015		Shimon Peres	Template:Flag
2016		Spyros Galinos	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2017	File:Leopoldo Lopez 1.JPG	Template:Sortname	Template:Flag	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notes

• A Template:Anchor^ Lord's award was made posthumously.<ref name=irc/>
• B Template:Anchor^ Distinguished Humanitarian Award<ref name=irc/>
• C Template:Anchor^ Distinguished Public Service Award<ref name=irc/>
• D Template:Anchor^ Special Freedom Award Recipient, in absentia<ref name=irc/>