Asian Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

Former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato (1901-1975) shared the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize with Ireland's Sean MacBride.

Sato was honored for his attempt to quell Japanese nationalism after World War II, and for signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty on behalf of Japan in 1970.

His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso (1935-present), the 14th Dalai Lama, was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy of peace and understanding among the world's various peoples and religions.

Since his exile from Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama has traveled extensively, urging universal peace and freedom.

One year after her election as Burma's president was nullified, Aung San Suu Kyi (1945-present) received the Noble Peace Prize "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights" (quoting the Nobel Peace Prize website).

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi cites Indian independence advocate Mohandas Gandhi as one of her inspirations. Since her election, she has spent about 14 of 20 years in prison or under house arrest.

In 1994, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (1929-2004) shared the Nobel Peace Prize with two Israeli politicians, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin. The three were honored for their work towards peace in the Middle East.

The prize came after the Palestinians and Israelis agreed to the Oslo Accords of 1993. Unfortunately, this agreement did not produce a solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict.

Shimon Peres (1923-present) shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin. Peres was Israel's Foreign Minister during the Oslo talks; he has also served as both Prime Minister and President.

Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995) was Israel's Prime Minister during the Oslo talks. Sadly, he was assassinated by a member of the Israeli radical right shortly after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. His assassin, Yigal Amir, was violently opposed to the terms of the Oslo Accord.

Bishop Carlos Belo (1948-present) of East Timor shared the Nobel Peace Prize for 1996 with his countryman José Ramos-Horta.

They won the award for their work toward a "just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor." Bishop Belo advocated for Timorese freedom with the United Nations, called international attention to massacres perpetrated by the Indonesian military against the people of East Timor, and sheltered refugees from the massacres in his own home (at great personal risk).

José Ramos-Horta (1949-present) was the head of the East Timorese opposition in exile during the struggle against Indonesian occupation. He shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Bishop Carlos Belo.

East Timor (Timor Leste) gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002. Ramos-Horta became the new nation's first Foreign Minister, then its second Prime Minister. He assumed the presidency in 2008 after sustaining serious gunshot wounds in an assassination attempt.

South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung (1924-2009) won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his "Sunshine Policy" of rapprochement towards North Korea.

Prior to his presidency, Kim was a vocal advocate of human rights and democracy in South Korea, which was under military rule throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s. Kim spent time in prison for his pro-democracy activities, and even narrowly avoided execution in 1980.

His presidential inauguration in 1998 marked the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another in South Korea. As president, Kim Dae-jung traveled to North Korea and met with Kim Jong-il. His attempts to forestall North Korea's development of nuclear weapons did not succeed, however.

Iran's Shirin Ebadi (1947-present) won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize "for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children."

Prior to the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Ms. Ebadi was one of Iran's premiere lawyers, and the first female judge in the country. After the revolution, women were demoted from these important roles, so she turned her attention to advocacy of human rights. Today, she works as a university professor and lawyer in Iran.

Muhammad Yunus (1940-present) of Bangladesh shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with the Grameen Bank, which he created in 1983 to provide access to credit for some of the world's poorest people.

Based on the idea of micro-financing - providing small start-up loans for impoverished entrepreneurs - the Grameen Bank has been a pioneer in community development.

The Nobel committee sited Yunus and Grameen's "efforts to create economic and social development from below." Muhammad Yunus is a member of the Global Elders group, which also includes Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, and other distinguished political leaders and thinkers.