Four Freedoms Award

Four Freedoms Award
Four Freedoms Award
	President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, painted by Francis Owen Salisbury, 1947
Country	United States
Established	1982
	Ribbon of the award

The Four Freedoms Award is an annual award presented to "those men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles which US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed in his Four Freedoms speech to the United States Congress on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: "freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear". The annual award is handed out in alternate years in New York City by the Roosevelt Institute to Americans and in Middelburg, Netherlands, by the Roosevelt Stichting to non-Americans.

History

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

State of the Union (Four Freedoms) (January 6, 1941)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's January 6, 1941 State of the Union Address introducing the theme of the Four Freedoms (starting at 32:02)

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The awards were first presented in 1982 on the centennial of President Roosevelt's birth as well as the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Netherlands. The awards were founded to celebrate the Four Freedoms espoused by President Roosevelt in his speech:

For each of the four freedoms an award was instituted, as well as a special Freedom medal. In 1990, 1995, 2003 and 2004 there were also special awards.

In odd years the awards are presented to American citizens or institutions by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in New York City, though in the past the American awards were given in Hyde Park, New York. In even years the award ceremony is held in Middelburg and honors non-Americans. The choice of Middelburg was motivated by the suspected descendance of the family Roosevelt from Oud-Vossemeer in the municipality Tholen.

Laureates

Freedom Medal

Year	Middelburg	Year	Hyde Park
1982	Princess Juliana of the Netherlands	1983	W. Averell Harriman
1984	Harold Macmillan	1985	Claude Pepper
1986	Alessandro Pertini	1987	Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
1988	Helmut Schmidt	1989	William J. Brennan, Jr.
1990	Václav Havel and Jacques Delors	1991	Thurgood Marshall
1992	Javier Pérez de Cuéllar	1993	Cyrus Vance
1994	Dalai Lama	1995	Jimmy Carter
1996	Juan Carlos I of Spain	1997	Katharine Meyer Graham
1998	Mary Robinson	1999	Edward M. Kennedy
2000	Martti Ahtisaari	2001	W.W. II veterans as represented by Richard Winters (U.S. Army) Robert Eugene Bush (U.S. Navy) William T. Ketcham (U.S. Marine Corps) Lee A. Archer, Jr. (U.S. Air Force) Ellen Buckley (U.S. Navy Nurse Corps)
2002	Nelson Mandela	2003	George J. Mitchell
2004	Kofi Annan	2005	Bill Clinton
2006	Mohamed ElBaradei	2007	Carl Levin and Richard Lugar
2008	Richard von Weizsäcker	2009	Hillary Clinton
2010	European Court of Human Rights	2011	Russ Feingold
2012	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	2013	Wendell Berry
2014	Red Cross	2015	Ruth Bader Ginsburg
2016	Angela Merkel	2017	Harry Belafonte
2018	Christiana Figueres as representative of the Paris Climate Agreement	2019	Lonnie Bunch
2020	United Nations	2021	Fred Korematsu
2022	Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya	2023	Nancy Pelosi
2024	Save Ukraine	2025

Freedom of Speech

The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941

Year	Middelburg	Year	Hyde Park
1982	Max van der Stoel	1983	Joseph L. Rauh, Jr.
1984	Amnesty International	1985	Kenneth B. Clark
1986	El País	1987	Herbert Block
1988	Ellen Johnson Sirleaf	1989	Walter Cronkite
1990	No Award	1991	James Reston
1992	Mstislav Rostropovich	1993	Arthur Miller
1994	Marion Dönhoff	1995	Mary McGrory
1996	John Hume	1997	Sidney R. Yates
1998	CNN	1999	John Lewis
2000	Bronisław Geremek	2001	The New York Times and the Ochs/Sulzberger Family
2002	Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty	2003	Studs Terkel
2004	Lennart Meri	2005	Tom Brokaw
2006	Carlos Fuentes	2007	Bill Moyers
2008	Lakhdar Brahimi	2009	Anthony Romero
2010	Novaya Gazeta	2011	Michael J. Copps
2012	Al Jazeera	2013	Paul Krugman
2014	Maryam Durani	2015	Arthur Mitchell
2016	Mazen Darwish	2017	Dan Rather
2018	Erol Önderoğlu	2019	The Boston Globe
2020	Maria Ressa	2021	Nikole Hannah-Jones
2022	Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi	2023	Tracie Hall
2024	Bellingcat	2025

Freedom of Worship

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941

Year	Middelburg	Year	Hyde Park
1982	Willem A. Visser 't Hooft	1983	Coretta Scott King
1984	Werner Leich and Christiann F. Beyers Naudé	1985	Elie Wiesel
1986	Bernardus Alfrink	1987	Leon Sullivan
1988	Teddy Kollek	1989	Raphael Lemkin (posthumously) and Hyman Bookbinder
1990	László Tőkés	1991	Paul Moore, Jr.
1992	Terry Waite	1993	Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC
1994	Gerhart M Riegner	1995	Andrew Young
1996	Lord Runcie	1997	William H. Gray
1998	Desmond Tutu	1999	Corinne C. Boggs
2000	Cicely Saunders	2001	Johnnie Carr
2002	Nasr Abu Zayd	2003	Robert F. Drinan
2004	Sari Nusseibeh	2005	Cornel West
2006	Taizé Community	2007	Peter J. Gomes
2008	Karen Armstrong	2009	Eboo Patel
2010	Asma Jahangir	2011	Rev. Barry W. Lynn
2012	Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople	2013	Simone Campbell
2014	Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan	2015	Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II
2016	Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Omar Kobine Layama and Nicolas Guérékoyame-Gbangou	2017	Rev. Dr. Steve Stone and Dr. Bashar A. Shala
2018	Paride Taban	2019	Krista Tippett
2020	Religions for Peace International	2021	Raphael Warnock
2022	Lian Gogali [id]	2023	Dr. Walter Earl Fluker
2024	Zumretay Arkin	2025

Freedom from Want

The third is freedom from want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941

Year	Middelburg	Year	Hyde Park
1982	H. Johannes Witteveen	1983	Robert S. McNamara
1984	Liv Ullmann	1985	John Kenneth Galbraith
1986	F. Bradford Morse	1987	Mary Lasker
1988	Halfdan T. Mahler	1989	Dorothy I. Height
1990	Emile van Lennep	1991	Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
1992	Jan Tinbergen	1993	Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver
1994	Sadako Ogata	1995	Lane Kirkland
1996	Médecins Sans Frontières	1997	Mark O. Hatfield
1998	Stéphane Hessel	1999	George S. McGovern
2000	M. S. Swaminathan	2001	March of Dimes
2002	Gro Harlem Brundtland	2003	Dolores Huerta
2004	Marguerite Barankitse	2005	Marsha J. Evans
2006	Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank	2007	Barbara Ehrenreich
2008	Jan Egeland	2009	Vicki Escarra
2010	Maurice Strong	2011	Jacqueline Novogratz
2012	Ela Bhatt	2013	Coalition of Immokalee Workers
2014	Hawa Abdi Diblaawe	2015	Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade
2016	Dr. Denis Mukwege	2017	Ai-jen Poo
2018	Emmanuel de Merode	2019	Franklin A. Thomas
2020	Sander de Kramer [nl]	2021	Deepak Bhargava
2022	Nice Nailantei Leng'ete	2023	Ady Barkan
2024	Sônia Guajajara	2025

Freedom from Fear

The fourth is freedom from fear — which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941

Year	Middelburg	Year	Hyde Park
1982	J. Herman van Roijen	1983	Jacob K. Javits
1984	Brian Urquhart	1985	Isidor Rabi
1986	Olof Palme (posthumously)	1987	George Kennan
1988	Armand Hammer	1989	J. William Fulbright
1990	Simon Wiesenthal	1991	Mike Mansfield
1992	Lord Carrington	1993	George Ball
1994	Zdravko Grebo	1995	Elliot Richardson
1996	Shimon Peres	1997	Daniel K. Inouye
1998	Craig Kielburger	1999	Robert O. Muller
2000	Louise Arbour	2001	W.W. II veterans as represented by Richard Winters (U.S. Army) Robert E. Bush (U.S. Navy) William T. Ketcham (U.S. Marine Corps) Lee A. Archer, Jr. (U.S. Air Force) Ellen Buckley (U.S. Army Nurse Corps)
2002	Ernesto Zedillo	2003	Robert C. Byrd
2004	Max Kohnstamm	2005	Lee H. Hamilton and Thomas Kean
2006	Aung San Suu Kyi	2007	Brent Scowcroft
2008	Willemijn Verloop - War Child	2009	Pasquale J. D'Amuro
2010	Gareth Evans	2011	Bryan A. Stevenson
2012	Hussain al-Shahristani	2013	Ameena Matthews
2014	Malala Yousafzai	2015	The Nation
2016	Human Rights Watch	2017	Cristina Jiménez Moreta
2018	Urmila Chaudhary	2019	Sandy Hook Promise
2020	Leoluca Orlando	2021	Worker Rights Activists for the Excluded Workers Fund
2022	ÜniKuir	2023	Bennie Thompson
2024	Grace Forrest	2025

Special presentations

1984	Simone Veil (Centennial Award)	2002	William vanden Heuvel	2005	BBC World Service
1990	Mikhail Gorbachev	2003	Arthur Schlesinger Jr.	2005	Mary Soames
1995	Jonas Salk	2004	Anton Rupert	2006	Mike Wallace
1995	Ruud Lubbers	2004	Bob Dole	2008	Forrest Church

References

Roosevelt Institute, List of laureates
NOS (2008) TV documentary on the Four Freedoms Award
Oosthoek, A.L. (2010) Roosevelt in Middelburg: the four freedoms awards 1982-2008, ISBN 978-9079875214
American Rhetoric, Four Freedoms Speech of Roosevelt

External links

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