Nobel - Michael Worek

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in the world is coming to be of interest everywhere in the world, and, gradually, thoughtful men and women everywhere are sitting in judgment upon the conduct of all nations.” Some of Root’s best known works are Citizen’s Part in Government (1911), Experiments in Government and the Essentials of the Constitution (1913) and Military and Colonial Policy in the United States (1916).

      This quest for peace and justice was the life’s cause of an extraordinary statesman. Elihu Root died in New York City on February 7, 1937, and was buried at the Hamilton College Cemetery. The home that he purchased in 1893 is now a National Historic Landmark.

      Alexis Carrel (1873–1944)

      1912 Physiology or Medicine

      In recognition of his work on vascular suture and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs.

      Alexis Carrel was first educated at home and later attended Saint Joseph College in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, his hometown. His father, a businessman, died prematurely while Carrel was still young.

      In 1889 he received his Bachelor of Letters at the University of Lyon and a year later another degree in the sciences. In 1900 he took his doctorate, at which time he dedicated himself to medical work, including experimental surgery, at the Lyon Hospital and to teaching at the local university.

      Carrel left for the United States in 1904 and took a position in the Department of Physiology at the University of Chicago. Eight years later he became a full member of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York. Here he carried out the majority of the research that would earn him the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of his work on the vascular suture and transplanting blood vessels and organs. Other achievements of his included developing new methods of preventing postoperative hemorrhages and thromboses.

      A year later, in 1913, Carrel married Anne-Marie-Laure Gourlez de La Motte. A devout Catholic, he complemented his work in medicine by working as a philosopher, writer and biologist throughout his life. During World War I he served as a major in the French Army Medical Corps and developed new treatments for the war wounded. When World War II broke out, Carrel returned to France as a member of a special mission for the French Ministry of Health. He held this position for a year and then served as director of the Carrel Foundation for the Study of Human Problems established by the Vichy Government.

      Carrel received various distinctions from countries around the world, including Spain, Russia, Sweden, Holland, Vatican City, France and the United States. It was from America, his adopted country, that many say he developed his ingenuity, energy and determination. He died in Paris in 1944.

      Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)

      1913 Literature

      Because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.

      Ravindranatha Thakur, under the pseudonym of Rabindranath Tagore, became for the world, but particularly India, a leading spiritual voice — even his physical appearance and demeanor seemed reminiscent of a prophet. Tagore was born into a large, distinguished family. He was the son of Maharishi Debendranath Tagore, leader of the Brahmo Samaj, a new religious sect. He was the youngest of 12 brothers who would have an important role in his development, particularly the older ones, due to the frequent absences of his father. Tagore showed a strong inclination toward writing from a very young age. He was educated at home in Bengali and later took English lessons. In the breaks between lessons he read Bengali poets and wrote poetry himself.

      At the age of 17 Tagore’s father gave his son the rare opportunity of studying in England and, although he returned to India without finishing his studies, he published several books of poetry, including Manasi (The Ideal One). In the following year, 1891, he went to Shilaidah and Shazadpur to run the family estate. This experience, which lasted 10 years, proved very enriching for his literary activity, since he had close contact with the poverty and inequality that inspired many of his writings. During this period he published more pieces of poetry, including Sonar Tari (The Golden Boat) in 1894, and various pieces for the stage, such as Chitrangada in 1892.

      In 1901 Tagore founded an experimental school in Shantiniketan, where the best traditions of India and the West were combined. This project began on a very small scale but proved successful and, in 1921, was enlarged into a university. As well as these literary and educational activities, Tagore was also a nonprofessional politician. He participated in the Indian nationalist movement and had a firm friendship with Mahatma Gandhi.

      Tagore wrote novels, tales, essays, autobiographies, dramas and theater pieces, but, above all, he was a poet with a harmonious, rhythmic style and a rare gift as a wordsmith. He wrote sensitive, beautiful poetry with technical perfection, such as the well-known Gitanjali: Song Offerings, in 1912. He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.

      The translation of some of Tagore’s works made it possible for his fame to spread beyond his own country. He participated in conferences, traveled and became a spokesperson for the independence of his country. He was also made a Knight of the British Empire in 1915, an honor that he denounced a few years later as a protest against English politics in India.

      Henri Marie La Fontaine (1854–1943)

      1913 Peace

      For his efforts to establish and follow the principles of international understanding and cooperation among men.

      Henri Marie La Fontaine was a lawyer, teacher, parliamentarian, diplomat, writer and bibliographer. He was, however, above all a pacifist and an internationalist. La Fontaine received his doctorate in law from the Free University of Brussels and was, for many years, one of Belgium’s leading lawyers, writing a technical work on the rights and duties of contractors of public works in 1885 and collaborating on another concerning counterfeiting in 1888.

      His involvement in liberal reform pushed him into politics. A socialist, he wrote papers for the Socialist Party, spoke at meetings and helped establish the newspaper La Justice. He was elected to the Belgian Senate and represented Hainaut between 1895 and 1898, Liège between 1900 and 1932 and Brabant between 1935 and 1936. He was secretary of the Senate for 13 years (1907–1919) and a vice-president for 14 years (1919–1932).

      As a senator he devoted most of his time to issues concerning education, labor and foreign affairs. He took part in the reform of primary education and defended the funding of public schools. He also investigated the working conditions of miners and supported the reduction of the working week to 40 hours. In 1901 he asked the Belgian government if it would arbitrate in the Boer War and proposed various legislative measures that contributed to international cooperation and peace.

      No sooner had he entered the Senate than La Fontaine, founder of the Belgian Society for Arbitration and Peace, joined the Interparliamentarian Union, the first permanent forum for multilateral political negotiations, which was established in 1889. The union, which included eight members who were or would go on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, was seen by La Fontaine as the beginning of an international parliament and, eventually, a world government. La Fontaine also participated in the founding of the International Peace Bureau and became its president in 1907. This organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910.

      La Fontaine kept writing during this period and produced important works for the cause of peace. Particularly interested in creating bibliographies and methods of referencing,

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