Frédéric Passy

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Frédéric Passy (May 20, 1822 - June 12, 1912) was a French economist and a joint winner (together with Henry Dunant) of the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1901.

Born in Paris, Passy's uncle Hippolyte Passy was a cabinet minister for both Louis Philippe and Louis Napoleon. Passy studied law and then became an accountant in the State Council. However, he returned to university to study economics and became a professional economist in 1857.

His reputation was established through his Mélanges économiques essays and a lecture series given at the University of Montpellier and published as the Leçons d'économie politique. He was an advocate of free trade and adherent of Richard Cobden. In 1877 he became a member of the French Académie de sciences morales et politiques, a component of the Institut de France.

Passy directly engaged in political questions, advocating educational reform and intervening to prevent war between France and Prussia over Luxembourg. He helped found the Ligue internationale et permanente de la paix to avert possible future conflicts. When the organization dissolved with the Franco-Prussian War, Passy helped restructure it as the Société française des amis de la paix later becoming the Société française pour l'arbitrage entre nations formed in 1889.

In 1881, he won election to the Chamber of Deputies, where he advocated foreign policy changes and labor reform, including legislation on industrial accidents. He won reelection in 1886 but lost in 1889. He also supported a system of international conflict arbitration, which was inspired by Randal Cremer's resolution that established arbitration between the United States and England. In 1888, his efforts led to a meeting between British Parliamentary members and French deputies discussing the concept of organized arbitration. The following year, the Inter-Parliamentary Union was established with Passy as one of the presidents.

Passy's writings and speeches, advocating peace were widely recognized. In 1909, he published Pour la paix a work which chronicled the establishment of the various peace and arbitration organizations he was associated with.

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