Fried, Alfred Hermann (1864-1921), was an Austrian journalist, publisher, and pacifist. A pacifist is someone opposed to war. Fried won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911 for his writings as editor of the journal Die Friedenswarte (The Peace Watch). He shared the prize with Tobias Asser (see Asser, Tobias Michael Carel).
Fried became actively involved in the peace movement after meeting the Austrian author and peace campaigner Baroness Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914) (see Suttner, Baroness Bertha von). In 1892, he founded the Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft (German Peace Society). He edited the society’s journal, Monatliche Friedenkorrespondenz (Monthly Peace Letters), from 1894 to 1899. He also published the peace journals Die Waffen nieder (Lay Down Your Arms) and Die Friedenswarte (The Peace Watch).
In 1905, Fried founded Annuaire de la vie internationale (Yearbook of International Life). The Pan-American movement and the work of the Hague Conferences, in particular, influenced Fried. He began to see the importance of economic and political cooperation as a basis for world peace. He considered such cooperation more valuable than arms limitation or programs for international justice. See International law (In the 1800’s).
Fried was also a great organizer for the pacifist movement. He served as a member of the Bern Peace Bureau, secretary of International Conciliation for Central Europe, and secretary-general of the International Press Union for Peace. In 1911, he helped set up the Society for International Understanding.
Fried was born in Vienna, Austria, on Nov. 11, 1864. He later moved to Berlin, Germany. He started a publishing company in Berlin in 1887. During World War I (1914-1918), Fried lived in Switzerland. While there, he worked for international peace and to improve conditions for prisoners of war. Fried died on May 5, 1921.
