Nobel Peace Prize 2026: Who is Navanethem Navi Pillay? Know all about Indian-origin South African jurist who wins coveted award on Friday

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday "for her efforts to promote peace and international law," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. Nobel Peace Prize, worth 12 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

The peace prize is the fifth Nobel awarded this week, after literature, chemistry, physics and medicine. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won in 2025. After the Nobel Peace Prize, this year's award season winds up on Monday with the economics prize.

Earlier this week, the prizes for medicine, physics, chemistry and literature were announced in Stockholm, with the latter going to Canadian poet Anne Carson on Thursday for her modern twists on Greek mythology and antiquity.


Who is Nobel Peace Prize Navanethem "Navi" Pillay?

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay is Indian-origin South African jurist and human rights pioneer. She is also former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Nobel Committee highlighted Pillay’s long career in advancing universal legal principles, from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who opposed apartheid in South Africa to her service as a judge in major international legal cases.

“Born into a family of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid in Durban, South Africa, Pillay became a lawyer and legal pioneer, confronting deep structural discrimination, segregation and exclusion,” the committee said.

Pillay has served as a judge on South Africa’s High Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. She also served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and, until recently, chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

She is currently a judge at the International Court of Justice in the case in which Myanmar stands accused of genocide, according to the Nobel Committee.

The committee noted that Pillay had helped demonstrate how legal measures could prevent acts of war and violence while strengthening international legal institutions.

The committee said Pillay had held states and national leaders accountable while bringing hope to victims of violence and conflict. Throughout her career, she has emphasised the responsibility of individuals and states to comply with the rule of law.

The award also comes amid what the committee described as growing pressure on the international legal system and its institutions.

The Nobel Committee said the 2026 Peace Prize was rooted in Alfred Nobel’s will, highlighting Pillay’s contribution to strengthening fraternity between nations and advancing the use of tribunals to promote peace and justice.