October 7, 2020

Fredrik Heffermehl, born on November 11, 1938, in Norway is Vice President of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and was president of the Norwegian Peace Alliance, as well as Vice President of the International Peace Bureau.

Heffermehl holds law degrees from the University of Oslo (1964), from New York University (1970), and the College of Public Administration in Oslo (1976). He has worked as a judge and attorney and in consumer protection.

Since 1982, he is a writer, lecturer, and peace organizer. He ran the association of Journalists for Peace, the Norwegian chapter of IALANA, and for years the Oslo secretariat for the International Peace Bureau.

Heffermehl edited a groundbreaking book Peace is Possible, 31 prominent peacemakers explaining successful work for peace in a concrete and non-academic way. This book was translated into 18 languages.

Since 2007 he has worked to secure that the Nobel Prize “for the champions of peace” shall serve the original, visionary purpose of preventing wars by a security policy based on a world order of co-operation, law, and justice, not arms races and military force.

He founded Nobel Peace Prize Watch, with nobelwill.org as its platform for publicity and outreach and in 2008-12 published books on the prize in six languages.

His latest work “Medaljens bakside” (Behind The Medals, out September 2020 in Norwegian) documents 120 years of mismanagement of Nobel ́s prize. The Norwegian awarders have suppressed the very ideas Nobel wished to support, the anti-militarist peace movement and activists inspired by Bertha von Suttner.

Nobel chose side in the conflict between the two attitudes to military forces, he was for global co-operation between nations and against arms races and war.

The Committee ́s primary obligation is not bureaucratic, not just to make a bureaucratic selection of the best in the pile of received nominations, but political, to interpret, announce, and promote the intention of Nobel.

Having screened all prizes since 1901, the book presents 115 legitimate winners who were cheated of the Nobel honour and money they were entitled to. This part is a unique history of the alternative peace movement through 120 years.

Comparing past and present, the book offers both a tool and innovative ideas for diplomats as well as the peace movement as they chart a road into a future of world peace.

Work career

1965 Deputy Judge, 1966 Attorney at Law, 1973 Deputy Consumer Ombudsman, 1980 Secretary-General, Norwegian Humanist Association.

1982 Freelance writer, lecturer, peace organizer, translator (English, German, French, Swedish, Danish) Secretariat for Journalists for Peace, IALANA, associate Oslo secretariat for International Peace Bureau, IPB, 1992-. 1985 President of (Norwegian) Journalists for Peace. Extensive writing on nuclear arms and international law, democracy and foreign policy. Advisor on nominations and commentator on the Nobel Peace Prize. 1988 President, Norwegian Peace Alliance (honorary president from 2004). 1992 worldwide distribution of Oscar-winning TV documentary “Deadly Deception. ”World Court Project (seeking ICJ opinion on nuclear weapons) 1994-98. 2000-2006, Vice president, International Peace Bureau, IPB in Geneva. Campaign to protect Norwegian democracy and keep Norway out of EU 1995. Board member/Vice President of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms.

Own publications

1983/93 “I glede og sorg” (Poetry and advice for humanist life/death ceremonies)
1983 “Vinne en fred” (“Winning Peace”) – anthology 1999.
1999 “Peace is Possible” appeared in English and Bangla and has been translated into 17 languages (See its homepage here.

2005 “Vanunu. His struggle and the struggle for him” (Aschehoug), in Norwegian.

In 2008 came ”Nobels vilje” (Voluntad de Nobel, on the Nobel Peace Prize, later expanded and developed in English: ”The Nobel Peace Prize. What Nobel really wanted” (Praeger 2011). It was expanded and updated with editions in Chinese, Finnish and Swedish. In 2012 the Nobel book was published in Spanish (Icaria, Barcelona, 2012)

In 2012, the Swedish authority for foundations, at Heffermehl ́s request, ordered the Nobel awarders to read and respect Nobel ́s last will.

2014, co-founder of the organization, Nobel Peace Prize Watch, engaging public opinion and authorities in reforming the Nobel Prize management.

Selected translation works

1994 “The incredible Kola Peninsula” (from Norwegian into English), Adi Roche “Children of Chernobyl” and, in 1995, Joseph Rotblat: “Science and responsibility”
2000 -“Peace is Possible”, translated my English original into Norwegian.
2002 –now: homepages edited by Heffermehl: peaceispossible.info, vanunu.org and, for Nobel Peace Prize Watch the http://www.nobelwill.org

With Nobel Peace Prize Watch as a first project, Fredrik Heffermehl is working on setting up a new organization, The Lay Down Your Arms Association.

Heffermehl on Wikipedia

Contact

Fredrik S. Heffermehl
Edvard Munchs gate 5,
3179 Åsgårdstrand
Norway

Phone: +47-917 44 783
Email: fredpax@online.no

  Bertha von Suttner, Fredrik Heffermehl, Medaljens bakside, Nobel Peace Prize Watch, Peace is Possible