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Tribute
from the Pugwash Secretary General | Pugwash
Council Statement | From
Polish Pugwash Group http://www.peacejam.org/pages/news/news_sirrotblat.html Sir Rotblat
won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for his work to end the proliferation
of nuclear weapons. He hosted one PeaceJam Youth Conference in Denver,
Colorado in May of 2004. Below is an essay about Sir Rotblat written by Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairead Corrigan Maguire Sir
Joseph Rotblat - A man of Vision Joseph Rotblat died
on 3lst August, 2005 peacefully in hospital, in London. He was
96 years young. I will miss him very much, but take consolation
from the fact that I had the blessing in my life of having spent
some time with Joseph, and listened to him share his experiences,
passion, and vision for a world without war and nuclear weapons.
He was born in Warsaw, Poland in l908. His love of science lead him into the scientific world of atomic research and he worked as a scientist, first in the UK at the University of Liverpool and then at Los Alamos, New Mexico, helping to create an atomic weapon. When he discovered in late l944 that Germany would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, he believed there was no reason to continue working on creating a US bomb. He then left the Manhattan Project on moral grounds. As General
Secretary of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs,
and later President of Pugwash Conferences, he dedicated his life
to the abolition of nuclear weapons. In l995 Joseph and the Pugwash
Conferences were joint recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Joseph
believed receiving the Nobel Peace prize carried with it the responsibility
to work for peace, and he did so every moment of his life, with
a passion and with joy. Two years
ago he has a stroke, and I went to visit him in a London Hospital
as he lay recovering. I was accompanied by his great friend and
co-worker for Nuclear Disarmament, Bruce Kent. Joseph looked so
ill and frail I though surely he would not leave the hospital at
all. But when he started talking to us I am awe-struck at the energy
and passion he exuded. He asked me if I was going to the Gorbachev
Conference in Rome in two weeks time, and said he wanted to get
out to go to the Conference, as he had two speeches prepared to
give. He said he had to get out of hospital soon, as there was so
much peace work to be done! Six months later he traveled to Denver,
Colorado, to deliver a two hour lecture to several hundred teenagers!
The following year, (2004) when met again in Rome,I asked Joseph
what kept him working for Disarmament, with so much enthusiasm and
joy. He said it was important for people to have goals and he had
two goals in life. "My short-term goal" he said "is
the abolition of nuclear weapons, and my long-term goal is the abolition
of war".
Mairead
Corrigan Maguire (Nobel Peace Laureate ) www.peacepeople.com © Copyright 2005 Peace Jam |