Georges Pire
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Georges Charles Clement Ghislain Pire (February 10, 1910-January 30, 1969) was a Belgian Dominican monk whose work helping refugees in post-World War II Europe saw him receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1958.
Pire became a Dominican monk, taking his final vows in 1932 and took up the name of "Dominique Pire". He then studied theology and the social sciences at the Dominican University in Rome, receiving his doctorate in theology in 1934, and returned to the monastery of La Sarthe, in Huy, Belgium where he engaged himself in helping out the poor families in gaining dignity. During the second world war, Pire served as chaplain for the Belgian resistance and actively participated, helping to smuggle Allied pilots out of the country, for instance. He received several medals for this service after the war.
In 1949, he began studying issues relating to postwar refugees and wrote a book, Du Rhin au Danube avec 60,000 D. P. about them, and founded an organisation to help them. The organisation organised sponsorships of refugee families, and during the 1950's built a sequence of villages in Austria and Germany to help house many refugees. Although a monk, Dominique Pire always refused to mix his personal faith with his social engagements, which was not always understood by his hierarchy.
After winning the Peace Prize, Pire also helped to set up a "Peace University" to raise global understanding. Later convinced that peace would not be achievable without the eradication of poverty, he founded "Islands of Peace", an NGO dedicated in the long term development of rural populations of developing countries. Projects were started in Bangladesh and India.
He died from complications from surgery.
More than 30 years after his death, the four organizations he founded are still active.
Organizations founded by Dominique Pire
- Service d'Entraide Familiale : works towards the social re-insertion of persons in state of difficulty,
- Aide aux Personnes Déplacées (http://www.proximedia.com/web/aideperso.html) : is active in the field of refugees in Belgium and sponsors children in developping countries,
- Université de Paix (http://www.universitedepaix.org/) : specializes in conflict prevention in the family and work place,
- Iles de Paix (http://www.ilesdepaix.org/) : conducts long term development projects with the populations of Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru.
References
- Nobel Committee's information on Pire (http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1958/index.html)de:Georges Pire