Peace: 1920

Bourgeois, Leon Victor-Auguste pronounced bur ZHWAH, (1851-1925), a French politician and statesman, was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1920 for his work as president of the Council of the League of Nations. The League of Nations was an international association of states founded in 1920 with the aim of promoting world peace.

Bourgeois was trained in law, and spent several years practicing law before entering the civil service in 1876. The following year, he was appointed chief commissioner of police for the Seine department (French administrative region). In 1888, he was elected to the National Assembly, the lower house of the French legislature, and in 1895, he became premier. His plans for government included a retirement plan for workers and a separation of church and state. Bourgeois lost his premiership in April 1896, and he later became head of the Radical-Socialist Party.

Bourgeois was a French delegate to the 1899 Hague Peace Conference. He presided over the Third Commission, dealing with international arbitration. He succeeded in his plans to establish a Permanent Court of Arbitration, and became a member of the court once it was founded in 1903. Bourgeois became a senator in 1905, and minister for foreign affairs in 1906. In 1907, he represented France at the second Hague Peace Conference. From 1912 to 1917, he held several ministerial positions, including the ministries of state, public works, and foreign affairs.

From 1918 until 1920, Bourgeois did much to help institute the League of Nations. He became president of the French Association for the League of Nations and attended an international congress in favor of the proposed League in 1919. In 1920, the League of Nations was created and Bourgeois was unanimously elected its first president.

Bourgeois was born in Paris. He studied at the University of Paris. Bourgeois was also a skillful artist and sculptor and was knowledgeable about music.