It’s not how you win an award, but what you do with it.
Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov through Heritage Auctions has sold his Nobel Peace Prize for a record $103.5 million to benefit Ukrainian child refugees.
“I was hoping that there was going to be an enormous amount of solidarity, but I was not expecting this to be such a huge amount,” Muratov said in an interview after the nearly 3-week auction concluded on World Refugee Day.
Heritage Auctions did not reveal the identity of the buyer, adding that a proxy made the winning bid.
Prior to Muratov, 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine recipient James Watson held the record for the highest amount paid for the award. He had sold his medal for $4.76 million, while the family of his co-recipient received $2.27 million.
Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize along with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa in October 2021. He helped found the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, serving as editor-in-chief at the time of its shutdown following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Previously, he announced that he was donating the $500,000 cash reward to charity. Now, he has decided to auction off his prize with the proceeds going directly to UNICEF.
Over seven million people have been internally displaced by the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, over five million refugees have been recorded across Europe, according to the agency.
“The large-scale displacement of people since the war started could have lasting consequences for generations to come. Children fleeing war in Ukraine are also at heightened risk of human trafficking and exploitation,” the UNICEF posted on its website.
Banner Photo by Euku via Wikimedia Commons
