The Ludwig Quidde Award 2014 is conferred upon Mary Kaldor

 The Ludwig Quidde Award 2014 goes to Mary Kaldor, British political scientist and director of the Civil Society and Human Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The Prize is awarded by the Ludwig Quidde Foundation to honour outstanding scientific achievements in the field of peace and freedom that stand in the tradition of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate of 1927, Ludwig Quidde.

The Conferment ceremony took place on 18th november 2015 at "Theater im Palais", Berlin.

Professor Mary Kaldor (born 1946) studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. She started her academic career from 1967 to 1969 at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), where she is currently a member of the governing board. She then worked as a research fellow at the University of Sussex. Here she was involved in various research activities, especially on armament dynamics and disarmament, peacekeeping and conflict resolution. In 1999 Mary Kaldor left Sussex University for the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she became a Principal Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance and subsequently School Professor. From 2003 to 2011 she was the director of this Centre. Since 2011 Mary Kaldor is head of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit at LSE. Her research interests are mainly focused on the global development of civil society and the conception of humanitarian security policies.

The high academic reputation of Mary Kaldor is underlined by numerous research fellowships at renowned international institutions, such as the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT), the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, the Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation of the University of California, the Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’homme. She has also been awarded with the title of a honorary doctorate.

Beyond her work as a scientist, Mary Kaldor acted as a consultant for various international organisations, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. Furthermore, she is co-founder of the European Nuclear Disarmament and the Helsinki Citizens Assembly. During the 1980s she supported disarmament and demilitarization campaigns focusing especially on European nuclear disarmament, and building East-West links among citizens.

With her research on “old and new wars” in the global era Mary Kaldor gained a large audience both in the academic and public sphere. She moreover exceedingly contributed to the creation of two notable reports on establishing a human security strategy for European foreign policy (Barcelona Report 2004; Madrid Report 2007). In her recent publications (i.a. “The Ultimate Weapon is No Weapon – Human Security and The New Rules of War and Peace”) she further elaborated her ideas towards a new orientation of a European and global peace and security policy.

The Ludwig Quidde Foundation is currently preparing the arrangements for the Award presentation. We will inform you on the location and the date of the public award ceremony in due time.

Press Release

Curriculum Vitae

Publications (selection)

 The first awarding of the Ludwig Quidde-Award

On September 27, 2012 the Ludwig Quidde-Foundation granted the Ludwig Quidde-Award in the “Friedenssaal” (Peace Hall) of the historic city hall of Osnabrück for the first time. The award is endowed with 5,000 Euro and is given for outstanding academic achievements which follow the tradition of the life and the lifework of the German Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1927, Ludwig Quidde.

As first laureate the jury, appointed by the foundation, chose the international law expert

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Christian Tomuschat.

With Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Christian Tomuschat the Ludwig Quidde-Foundation chose a worthy first laureate whose thinking and actions follow the tradition of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, underlined the chairman of the foundation Prof. Dr. Michael Brzoska in his welcoming speech (only available in German).

The chairman of the jury, Prof. Dr. Jost Dülffer, pointed in his justification for the decision (only available in German) out that Christian Tomuschat published pioneering scientific studies which discuss the enforcement of the international and intra-societal peace and with human rights.

The laudation for the laureate (only available in German) was held by Dr. Emily Haber, State Secretary of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She traced the most important stages of his academic career and emphasized over all his high reputation in international expert committees in which he was involved over many years.

In his speech (only available in German), Christian Tomuschat was deeply moved by the honour. The example of Ludwig Quidde shows that every single person is able to make a contribution to more peace on earth. It is this comprehension that motivates him again and again to promote the strengthening of the law in addition to his scientific work.

Further, the Ludwig Quidde-Foundation took this opportunity to honour Prof. Dr. Karl Holl for his merits for exploring the life and the lifework of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ludwig Quidde.  Dr. Corinna Hauswedell accentuated in her appreciation speech (only available in German) that the biography of Ludwig Quidde written by Karl Holl can reasonably be called an opus magnum with which Quidde is saved from falling into oblivion.


To the First Laureate
Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Christian Tomuschat
To the Person Ludwig Quidde
To the Ludwig Quidde-Award