Why Mahatma Gandhi never received the Nobel Peace Prize despite multiple nominations

Mahatma Gandhi, one of the world's most prominent advocates of non-violence, was considered for the Nobel Peace Prize in five different years but never received the award.

According to the Nobel Prize's official nomination archive, Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948, receiving a total of 12 individual nominations across those five years.

The distinction is important: Gandhi was not nominated just five individual times. Rather, he received nominations from different individuals and organisations across five separate years. He was shortlisted by the Norwegian Nobel Committee three times in 1937, 1947 and 1948.

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First nominations: 1937-1939

Gandhi's first Nobel nomination came in 1937, from Norwegian politician Ole Colbjørnsen. He was nominated again in 1938 and 1939.

In 1937, Gandhi was among 13 candidates considered by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. However, committee adviser Professor Jacob Worm-Müller raised questions about Gandhi's political activities.

Worm-Müller recognised Gandhi's influence as a moral leader but questioned whether his political campaigns could always be regarded as completely pacifist. Gandhi's movements against British rule were based on Ahinsa, or non-violence, and Satyagraha, but some campaigns were followed by outbreaks of violence.

This created a dilemma for the committee: Gandhi promoted non-violence as a principle, but he was also a political leader whose mass movements sometimes had violent consequences.

He did not receive the prize in any of the three years.

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1947: Gandhi comes close again

Gandhi was nominated again in 1947, receiving three individual nominations from prominent Indian leaders, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar and Govind Ballabh Pant.

The nominations came shortly after India's independence and Partition, when widespread communal violence was taking place across India and Pakistan.

Gandhi was again shortlisted, this time among six candidates. But the committee faced concerns about his position regarding the India-Pakistan conflict.

Nobel's archival account records concerns over a September 1947 statement attributed to Gandhi suggesting that war with Pakistan could become necessary if other methods failed. The statement was difficult for committee members to reconcile with Gandhi's international reputation as an advocate of non-violence.

Gandhi later clarified his position and continued to oppose war.

The 1947 Peace Prize ultimately went to the British Friends Service Council and the American Friends Service Committee.

1948: Gandhi's final nomination

Gandhi's final Nobel consideration came in 1948, when he received six individual nominations. These included nominations from 1946 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Emily Greene Balch and the American Friends Service Committee.

By then, however, Gandhi had been assassinated in New Delhi on January 30, 1948.

The committee therefore faced another question: could the Peace Prize be awarded to someone who had already died?

NobelPrize.org's examination of the archives shows that the committee seriously considered the possibility of a posthumous award and sought legal advice. Ultimately, it decided against giving Gandhi the prize.

On November 18, 1948, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to award the Peace Prize that year. Its formal explanation was that there was "no suitable living candidate." Nobel's historical account indicates that this was understood as a reference to Gandhi.

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Was Britain responsible?

A popular theory claims that Gandhi was denied the Nobel because the committee did not want to anger Britain. However, the Nobel Foundation's archival research does not support this explanation. NobelPrize.org states that there is no indication in the committee's records that concern about provoking Britain influenced the decision.

Instead, the records point to Gandhi's complicated political role, questions surrounding violence, the India-Pakistan conflict and the circumstances of his death. Thus, Gandhi's Nobel story is more complicated than simply saying he was "nominated five times and rejected." He was nominated in five different years, received 12 individual nominations and was shortlisted three times.

When the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said the award was, in part, a tribute to Gandhi's memory.