Nominees include US presidential hopeful, German chancellor and the pontiff as more than 376 people and organisations are put forward for recognition

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A record 376 nominations have been submitted for this year’s Nobel peace prize, including such diverse figures as Donald Trump, Angela Merkel and Pope Francis.



The previous record was made in 2014 when 278 candidates were nominated.

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The head of the Nobel Institute, Olav Njolstad said the record number of nominations reflected world events.

“We live in a world where there are a lot of conflicts and where there are also a certain number of processes that are heading in a more positive direction.”

“Clearly, this has inspired a lot of people to exercise their right to nominate someone,” he added.

There were 228 individuals and 148 organisations nominated, the institute said.

The names on the list will remain a secret for at least 50 years, unless those who nominated them – MPs and cabinet ministers, former laureates, and some university professors, among others – decide to publicly reveal their candidate.

As a result, known to be on the list are US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump, the Colombian peace process negotiators, Pope Francis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, residents of the Greek islands helping migrants, and US actress and activist Susan Sarandon.

The list also includes Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad, a Yazidi abducted by Islamic State fighters in August 2014 from her village in Iraq and held for three months as a sex slave, and the Afghan Cycling Federation women’s team, nominated by a group of Italian MPs hailing the bicycle as environmental, economic and democratic.

The five-member Nobel Committee which selects the winner held its first meeting on Monday, during which members were able to nominate candidates of their own choice.

The name or names of the laureate – there can be a maximum of three – will be announced on 7 October.

Last year, the prize went to four Tunisian groups that rescued the country’s transition to democracy.