1907

Ernesto Teodoro Moneta

for his work in the press and in peace meetings, both public and private, for an understanding between France and Italy

Louis Renault

for his decisive influence upon the conduct and outcome of the Hague and Geneva Conferences

Ernesto Teodoro Moneta (1833 - 1918)

Italy

Champion of Peace, Officer and Journalist

Ernesto Moneta was only 15 when he first experienced war. Together with his father and brothers, he fought in the streets of Milan to free the city from the Austrians. This experience shaped his view of life: states ought to cooperate to prevent war and human slaughter. Moneta completed military training and fought with the freedom fighter Garibaldi, but left the forces and began work as a journalist. From 1867 on, he edited the daily paper Il Secolo in Milan. In his articles, Moneta wrote that the Italian army should be a popular militia only for use in wars of defense. The most important goal, however, was to cultivate a feeling of brotherhood among peoples. In the 1890s, Moneta stood out as the unrivalled leader of the Italian peace movement.

Louis Renault (1843 - 1918)

France

Expert in International Law and Practical Promoter of Peace

In the opinion of the lawyer Louis Renault, peace could be brought about by strengthening international law. This was a goal for which he worked untiringly all his life. He tought at the universities in Dijon and Paris, and delivered his last lecture at the age of 75, two days before he died. He was also the French Government's adviser in foreign policy and international law. Renault was a delegate to the international conferences on transport and communications and on the rights of artists in the 1880s. But it was at the peace conferences at the Hague in 1899 and 1907 that he really gained his reputation as a brilliant lawyer with good practical sense. Renault was especially eager to extend the Geneva Convention to apply also to war at sea. He also sought to have the rights and obligations of neutral states in wartime defined in more precise terms.