Literature “For Peace, against War” – a selection

Looking for international (women) writers of peace literature? Here is a terrific, extensive  resource  link about (literary) peace and anti-war writings: https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2015/06/06/women-writers-on-peace-and-war/ Bertha von Suttner is represented by 11 selections from her extensive oeuvre. There are also many texts by male authors. An introductory note by the compiler is at https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/about/
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Unprecedented Peace philantrophy in 2022

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov's philanthropic decision to auction his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal to help Ukrainian children suffering from the war has raised in June 2022 more than $103 million in humanitarian aid. The aid will be handled by UNICEF. Muratov, editor in chief of the Russian opposition paper Novaya Gazeta already had made a charitable donation of the $500,000. part of the prize money which comes along with the Nobel Peace Prize. “Several months ago, we at asked ourselves w...
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The Apotheosis of War

This year (2021) sees the 150th anniversary of one of the most famous and gruesome anti-war paintings of all time, The Apotheosis of War by the Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin, a friend of Bertha von Suttner. Reproductions belong in every museum of peace and war. For the 10th conference of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP), held virtually in Kyoto in September 2020, Peter van den Dungen presented a paper titled Conveying the Reality of War: Vasily Vereshchagin – “The great...
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Bas les armes! (1899): The late and troublesome birth of a non-bestseller”

Bertha von Suttner’s famous anti-war novel, Die Waffen nieder! (1889), was a bestseller that was translated at the time in most European languages. However, surprisingly, it took ten years before a French edition, Bas les armes!, was published (1899). Recent French biographers of Bertha von Suttner barely acknowledge the existence of the translation. Moreover, the first reprint in more than a century of Bas les armes! (2015) is virtually silent about how the original translation and publication ...
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Georgian Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize 2020

Past August 2020, the second Georgian Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize has been awarded to Julia Khrashvili, Chairwoman of the Georgian Association of IDP Women. One of the aspects in common with the life of Bertha is the road from Sukhumi to Zugdidi, with old and recent memories of war. The Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute sent a congratulatory message
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Two Testaments Remembered – Alfred Nobel and Bertha von Suttner

On 27th November 1895, 125 years ago, Alfred Nobel wrote his last will and testament, in the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. Of the five prizes for which he left a large fortune in his will, the most controversial was the one for ‘champions of peace’. This should be awarded to ‘the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses’ (1). Whereas Nobel’s testa...
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Bertha von Suttner By Supriya Vani

My hope in writing this article is to inspire women to rise up, to come to the forefront of all human affairs and help eliminate weapons from the world. Our world will know peace only when its people regard others as part of one world family, in which each member instinctively reaches out to the others with love and respect. Thus, for me, Bertha von Suttner is the laureate whose life story most demonstrates the values of the Nobel Peace Prize, which is essential for making any meaningful pro...
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Georgian Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize 2020

Past August 2020, the second Georgian Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize has been awarded to Julia Khrashvili, Chairwoman of the Georgian Association of IDP Women. One of the aspects in common with the life of Bertha is the road from Sukhumi to Zugdidi, with old and recent memories of war. The Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute sends a congratulatory message with a short history lesson. BvS award congratulatory letter to Julia Kharashvili
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PEACE and NATURE trails

Join us on a virtual walk along the Nature and Peace Highlights of the cities of Liberty and Peace. Tour Guide We welcome you to join us on two virtual walks through two cities that are of utmost importance to Peace in the Netherlands. Wageningen, city of Liberty and The Hague, city of Peace. These walks were developed with the covid-19 crisis as a background setting, limiting more people than ever to visit these beautiful cities in person. Therefore, the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute wan...
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Georgia is proud of Bertha von Suttner

On the occasion of the 177th Anniversary of Bertha von Suttner, Salome Adamia, initiator  of the 1st Georgian Peace Prize named after Bertha von Suttner (June 2019) Created in cooperation with the Austrian Embassy in Georgia a beautiful poster in Georgian Languae. The original German words of Bertha von Suttner are full of wisdom „Nur ein redliches Mittel gibt es, Verfolgte vor Verfolgung zu schützen – sich neben sie zu stellen.“
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Bertha von Suttner The ‘general in chief of our little peace army’ mentioned in a newsletter of the UNESCO in January 2018

https://en.unesco.org/news/generalissimo-peace-movement Bertha von Suttner, known as the "generalissimo of the peace movement", established the Austrian Peace Society in 1891. It aimed to prevent war, carrying out research into the  causes of conflict, promoting pacifist thinking and supporting all efforts to establish international legislation as the basis for the peaceful settlement of all international disputes. As a recognized journalist and activist, von Suttner was elected Honorary P...
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In Covid_19 times, online teaching with reliable information becomes an aim. Here an example

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Bertha-von-Suttner/337739 (1843–1914). Austrian author Bertha von Suttner popularized her quest for world peace through her many books, essays, and newspaper articles. She was a leader in several early peace societies and is credited with influencing Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel in the establishment of the Nobel prize for peace. Suttner herself was awarded the prize in 1905. Bertha Kinsky was born on June 9, 1843, in Prague, Austria (now in the...
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The Barbarization of the Sky, an essay of 19 pages by Bertha von Suttner

The Barbarization of the Sky is an essay of 19 pages, written by Bertha von Suttner in 1912. The first English translation was released in summer of  2016 and marks the 20th anniversary of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, during a Mastercallsof Prof Hope May , connecting Bertha von Suttner’s ideas to current themes concerning aerial bombardments and international law governing nuclear weapons. https://www.peacepalacelibrary.nl/2016/06/berth...
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Crowdfunding: Gun Clara Meijers een plaats in de geschiedschrijving

Marten van Harten, historicus aan de Universiteit van Leiden, schrijft voor eigen rekening een boek over professor Meijers, ‘Burgerlijk Recht in donkere tijden’.  Het Platform Vrouwen en Duurzame Vrede faciliteert de crowdfunding voor het onderzoek naar de plaats van Clara Meijers: IBAN: NL 60 TRIO 0338471049 t.n.v.  Platform Vrouwen & Duurzame Vrede  o.v.v. bronnenonderzoek Wat zijn uw en mijn rechten? In verreweg de meeste landen, waaronder Nederland, wordt ...
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Urn with the ashes of Bertha von Suttner in the Coulumbarium of Gotha

Bertha von Suttner was a member of the Austrian association “Die Flamme” which propagated cremation (as cremation was not  permitted by the Catholic Church until 1963).The urn with Bertha’s ashes is kept in the Columbarium of Gotha (a medieval city in Thuringia, in east-central Germany). Petra Keppler and Jos Verhoeff visited the famous columbarium during the summer of 2016. Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner, beloved husband of Bertha, died on 10th December 1902. She took his body to the columbari...
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Friends of Bertha and Petra Keppler congratulate Professor Erich Glawischnig on his 90th Birthday, on February 1st!

Bertha von Suttner lived at Castle Harmannsdorf for many years. In 1976 veterinary Prof. Dr. Erich Glawischnig bought the castle, where he has lived ever since with his family; which is very involved in the International Bertha von Suttner Association, and makes her heritage accessible to the general public. The Glawischnig family beautifully restored the Schüttkasten, a baroque building in a park, and makes it available for events organized by the International Bertha von Suttner Associa...
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Die Waffen Nieder! First translation of Lay Down Your Weapons! into Georgian

The famous novel of Bertha von Suttner was translated into the Georgian language, from a German edition by Ms. Tamar Kotrikadze, and published in Autumn 2019 by the publishing house Artanuji. The novel -written some 130 years ago- was included in their classic cycle series, which they have been publishing for decades. The cover was designed by Ms. Tamar Chanishvili. The foreword was written by Ms. Nino Kalandarishvili (winner of the Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize 2019) and Ms .Salome Adamia. ...
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Four women of peace at the New Year’s Reception of The Hague Academy of International Law and the Carnegie Foundation

From left to right: Mrs Saskia Bruines, deputy mayor and The Hague's alderman for International and Peace Affairs; Petra Keppler, Director of the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute; Humanity Hub Managing Director, Jill Wilkinson and Diana Eggleston, Business Advisor NGO’s, The Hague Business Agency. Grand Hall of the Peace Palace, 23 January 2020.  © Peace Palace Photography
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In memoriam Leny Durville The Hague *Dec 2nd 1922 + Dec 7th 2019

In September 2019, Leny Durville, 96 years old, was still “tempted “to participate in the presentation of the new Dutch version of “Die Waffen Nieder!” by Bertha von Suttner. It was a beautiful September afternoon celebration in the garden of the Peace Palace. But Leny was too fragile! A week later, On September 26th I saw her for the last time, presenting her the new edition of “De Wapens neer!” On this occasion, she gave me with a box full of documents, all relevant to the UN Resolution 1325 a...
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Ms Homeyra Karimivahed from ODVCW visited the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute

On November 28th 2019, Ms Homeyra Karimivahed from ODVCW visited the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute. Her association supports Survivors of Chemical weapon attacks in Iran. The ODVCW is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, which is dedicated to informing the international community and international organisations about the human tragedy in sardasht. http://www.ipb.org/countries/iran/
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Visit Bonn in Germany and travel with the “Bertha Tramway”!

70 years ago, on 05 August 1949, the Council of the City of Bonn ( at that time the Capital of West-Germany) decided  after heated exchanges op opinions of after-war Germany: “The newly to be created public traffic square close to the Rhine bridge will be named Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz”. Nowadays, the square is one of Bonn’s busiest traffic junctions. Several thousand persons pass through The Bertha von Suttner Platz every day, being ignorant of who this woman was. This changed on Septem...
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DIE WAFFEN NIEDER! Crowdfunding of Peace Palace Library results in New Dutch Translation of Lay down your weapons! (in dutch)

Op Peace day, 21 September 2019, werd in het Vredespaleis het boek "De Wapens neer!" , in  een  moderne Nederlandse vertaling  aangeboden aan de UNESCO voorzitter Kathleen Ferrier en een kleine 70 crowd funders. De vertaling die nu voorligt werd geschreven door Lilian Caris en Iris van der Blom; de uitgeverij is Orlando (genoemd naar Virginia Woolf's "Orlando"). Eindelijk is het boek weer verkrijgbaar (in de boekhandel en bij het Vredespaleis) en daar dient dank voor te worden ...
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Lecture on Dr. Timothy Holmes for the International Peace Day

To commemorate the International Peace Day (21 September 2019), the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute was pleased to host in The Hague a lecture by visiting academic Dr Barbara Burns (University of Glasgow) on the subject ‘Timothy Holmes: English Translator of Bertha von Suttner’s novel Die Waffen nieder!’ The lecture focused on the London surgeon who translated Die Waffen nieder! into English in 1892. Holmes was an eminent medical scholar and editor of the famous Gray’s Anatomy, for...
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Bertha von Suttner Peace Brunch on Peace Day 21 September 2019

Bertha von Suttner’s famous novel Die Waffen nieder! was published in 1889 and translated into English in 1892 as Lay Down your arms!. The International bestseller tells the life story of Martha von Tilling and reaches a broad audience. On Saturday  21st of September you are cordially invited to the Bertha von Suttner Peace Brunch  from 11:00 till 14:00 at 70 Laan van Meerdervoort in The Hague Professor Barbara Burns from Glasgow, UK, will talk about the first English translat...
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Give a name to the drowned victims in the Mediterranean Sea

The Italian coroner Dr. Christina Cattaneo arrives in  Lampedusa in 2015 to help identifying the 1000 bodies found in the sunken boat "Le Barcone" She starts to help with her scientific knowledge as a pathologist. Thousands of dead are washed up on the coasts of Italy and are listed as numbers. But each shipwreck body has a family waiting at home for a word of assurance that this woman, child or man has survived the crossing safely. A register of identification restoring the identity of nam...
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The only existing voice recording of the Austrian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Bertha von Suttner (1843 – 1914).

The only surviving sound recording of Austrian Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bertha von Suttner (1843 - 1914). "Durch eine Recherche in den Tagebuchaufzeichnungen Bertha von Suttners (der Nachlass von Bertha von Suttner befindet sich im Archiv der UN-Bibliothek in Genf) kann mit ziemlicher Sicherheit bestätigt werden, dass es sich bei der Aufnahme um die Stimme von Bertha von Suttner – die auch unter dem Pseudonym B. Oulot (bezogen auf ihren Spitznamen „Boulotte“) publizierte – handelt." The r...
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Bertha von Suttner – eine Soziologin? – Eveline Thalmann

Eveline Thalmann  forscht zu Bertha von Suttner und hat 2017 den ausgezeichneten Textband „Bertha von Suttner als Soziologin“ herausgegeben. Das Buch enthält ebenfalls alle sozilogisch relevanten Schriften von BvS, sowie eine vollständige Internationale Bibliographie der Sekundärliteratur, zusammengestellt von der LITHES Herausgeberin und BvS Expertin Beatrix Müller-Kampel, Graz, Austria. http://lithes.uni-graz.at/lithes/beitraege17_sonderbd_4/mueller-kampel_suttner_bibliographie.pdf ISS...
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Exploring Betty A. Reardon’s Perspective on Peace Education

Looking Back, Looking Forward Editors: Snauwaert, Dale T. The book offers an exploration of the work of Betty A. Reardon, a pioneer in education for peace and human rights  Betty A. Reardon (born 12 June 1929) is the founder and director of the Peace Education Center and Peace Education Graduate Degree Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is a leader in peace education and a scholar in human rights education at the primary and secondary levels. She is also consider...
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English reprint of Lay down your Arms!

The Glasgow University's Great War Project in 2018 resulted also in the re-print of the famous novel of Bertha von Suttner “Lay Down Your Arms!” Editor Dr Barbara Burns, Reader in German and Dean of Graduate Studies University of Glasgow, took the opportunity to reconsider and foreground the various facets of Bertha von Suttner’s achievements. Dr. Burns research took her to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection in Philadelphia, and she gave papers on Bertha von Suttner at several conferences a...
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Internship at Bvs Peace Institute closes with dinner

3 Interns who had followed in 2018 and 2019 a summer course at the Hague Academy came also for a mini-internship to the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute to learn more about the beginnings of the PCA and the creation of Arbitration Societies in the late 19th century. Bertha von Suttner also considered  Arbitration as  an important means to prevent war. Tobias Asser was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911 and affected a part of the prize money to the Academy, while the Carnegie En...
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Impressions from the Bertha von Suttner 175th anniversary event

Saturday, June 9th  Morning guided tour through the arbitration chamber of the Peace Palace by Dr. Peter van den Dungen, (Chair of the Advisory Board of the BvS Peace Institute)  Peace Palace Library Lecture by Dr. Peter van den Dungen Saturday, June 9th Keynote Speakers at the ceremony Marzhan Nurzhan (from Kazakstan) Abolition 2000 and ICAN In the Footsteps of Bertha von Suttner Dr. Heinz Fischer (Former President of Austria) Peace Policy from...
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LONDON GERMAN STUDIES XVI

LONDON GERMAN STUDIES XVI This volume explores opposition to war and militarism among a range of German-language authors in a period roughly defined by two international bestsellers: Suttner's Die Waffen nieder! (1889) and Remarque's Im Westen nichts Neues (1928). Major figures (Kraus, Schnitzler, Zweig) have not lacked attention, but some of the authors discussed here (Andreas Latzko, Hans Chlumberg) are still far from being household names. These essays remind us that the period's opposition ...
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E-book: Peace Philanthropy, then and now

Download the following publications below. there are different formats available, for the different devices you may have. Some of the files may be large. peace-philanthropy-then-and-now as ePub for most phones and tablets peace-philanthropy-then-and-now as graphic novel (you will need the app to view them) peace-philanthropy-then-and-now as adobe pdf  if you prefer to download and print  
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Peace Palace Library Lecture by Dr. Peter van den Dungen

Peace Palace Library Lecture – 9th June 2018   101 Friends of Bertha von Suttner*   It is a great pleasure and honour to give this Peace Palace Library Lecture; I am most grateful to the director of the library, Jeroen Vervliet, for hosting it in this historic reading room. I am grateful to you all for being here and wanting to pay tribute to Bertha von Suttner on the 175th anniversary of her birth. Birthday anniversaries are occasions when family and friends come togeth...
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Honoring Bertha von Suttner: Female Peacemakers Speak About Their Work Within Disarmament Institutions

In cooperation with HagueTalks, the Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute organized a student event on Thursday, June 7, 2018 in the Humanity House.  The event included speakers Deepti Choubey from OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) and Marzhan Nurzhan from Abolition 2000.  Moderator Alyn Ware, who is the Global Coordinator for PNND (Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament) guided the audience through a debate that discussed ho...
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Women in WWI two lesson sequence

Published on the centenary of the first International Congress of Women on 28 April 1915, this two-lesson sequence allows students to explore independently the wide range of activities women were engaged in during World War I (WWI) and ask, are women the real peacemakers? Students will become experts in the stories they discover about women who strove for peace, supported the war, worked, campaigned for suffrage or tried to help the victims of war. Click here to download the the lessons (pdf)...
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Bertha von Suttner in The Hague

The Permanent Court of Arbitration : after the first Peace Conference, The Hague became the permanent site for the first international institute for peace and justice, ever. The permanence of this court has nothing to do with having the judges in The Hague all the time. There was a list of judges who where available for causes and countries who were interested in arbitrage settlement could choose out of a list the judges of their taste. The judges then came temporarily to the Hague. Only the...
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BvS peace trail

Or click here. Depart from Central Station by tram 9 passing Koninginnegracht 6 where the press center was based during the Second Peace conference. From Kurhaus, take tram 1 to Peace Palace visitor center to learn about the PCA (cour d'arbitrage). From there, take bus 24 to Kneuterdyk, Diligentia theater, Royal Palace Noordeinde. From there, go to Wateler at Kettingstraat, Deux-Villes, Binnenhof/Ridderzaal. From there, go to Spinoza monument and Yi Jun museum.
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