Sir Austen Chamberlain
Facts
Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.
Sir Austen Chamberlain
The Nobel Peace Prize 1925
Born: 16 October 1863, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Died: 16 March 1937, London, United Kingdom
Residence at the time of the award: United Kingdom
Role: Foreign Secretary; Part-originator of Locarno Pact
Prize motivation: “for his crucial role in bringing about the Locarno Treaty”
Sir Austen Chamberlain received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1926.
Prize share: 1/2
For Reconciliation between Germany and France
Austen Chamberlain shared the Peace Prize for 1925 with the American Charles Dawes. They received it in 1926, together with the Laureates for that year, the Frenchman Aristide Briand and the German Gustav Stresemann. The four Prizes were awarded for work aimed at ensuring peace between the arch-rivals Germany and France.
Austen Chamberlain grew up in a family of well-known British politicians. His father, Joseph, was a member of several Governments and an eager “empire builder”. His half-brother, Neville, was Prime Minister when Hitler started World War II in 1939.
Austen Chamberlain studied in France and Germany before entering politics in the Conservative Party. He joined the Government in World War I, and took part in the peace negotiations at Versailles in 1919. Chamberlain became Foreign Secretary in 1924, and gave Britain's support when the German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann initiated negotiations in the Swiss town of Locarno aimed at Franco-German reconciliation.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
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