The International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples was introduced as the Soviet Union’s equivalent to the Nobel Peace Prize.
It was introduced on 21 December 1949 by executive order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet to honor Stalin’s 70th birthday (though this date was actually after his 71th).
The prize was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government. Most recipients were prominent communists and supporters of the Soviet Union who weren’t Soviet citizens.
A total of 45 people received the prize from 1949 to 1955 (the yearly number of recipients varied between six and ten). One of them, the American Epicopal bishop Arthur Wheelock Moulton, declined the Prize saying “The only reward I want in working for peace is peace.”
As part of the de-Stalinization process, the Stalin Peace Prize was renamed the International Lenin Peace Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples on 6 September 1956, usually abbreviated to the more familiar International Lenin Peace Prize.
This shortened name was adopted as the official one on 11 December 1989. It was abolished when the USSR collapsed just over two years later.
Following the decision to remove Stalin’s name from the prize, all previous recipients were asked to return their Stalin Prizes so they could be replaced with the new Lenin Prizes.
