Lange, Christian Lous (1869-1938), a Norwegian pacifist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1921 for his contribution as secretary-general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an organization working for international peace and cooperation (see Inter-Parliamentary Union ). He shared the prize with Karl Branting of Sweden (see Branting, Karl Hjalmar ). Lange also became the Norwegian delegate to the League of Nations, where he concentrated particularly on matters of disarmament (see League of Nations ).
In 1909, Lange was made secretary-general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a post he held until 1933. During World War I (1914-1918), the Inter-Parliamentary Union was one of the few such organizations that continued to exist, thanks largely to Lange’s efforts, which included moving its office to his home in Oslo.
Lange’s first volume of Histoire de l’internationalisme (History of Internationalism), was published in 1919. A history of pacifism–he preferred the term “internationalism” to “pacifism”–the book was intended to cover the period from antiquity to the beginning of World War I in 1914. The second and third volumes were completed and published after his death, in 1954 and 1963 respectively.
Lange was born in Stavanger, Norway. He graduated from the University of Oslo in 1893 with a degree in history, French, and English. In 1919, he received a doctorate for a thesis on the history of internationalism.
