“There is so much evil in the world as a result of various divisions that such a prize will still be needed for a long time”, stated former President Lech Wałęsa during the official opening of the finals of the 2017 Great Nobel Peace Prize Quiz.

The Quiz consisted of three stages in the course of which the winners of the 2017 award were gradually selected. In order to complete subsequent stages successfully, participants had to demonstrate their knowledge of, amongst others, the various forms of struggle for human rights employed by the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The finals of the competition were held on 25 November 2017 at the Faculty of History of the University of Gdańsk. Following central preliminaries in the form of a test, the participants of the third stage had to compete in oral finals.

First place was taken by Jan Pabisiak (XII Secondary School, Wrocław), second by Mateusz Romańczuk (V Secondary School, Bielsko-Biała), and third by Jakub Czuba (Maria Konopnicka II Secondary School, Inowrocław). One of the prizes for the winners and their tutors included tickets to Oslo.

Seven finalists received distinctions − Radosław Musiał (Maria Konopnicka II Secondary School, Inowrocław); Wojciech Rynn (United Nations I Secondary School, Biłgoraj); Michał Gwardyński (XII Secondary School, Wrocław); Sebastian Mrówczyński (Maria Konopnicka II Secondary School, Inowrocław); Mateusz Stoparek (Juliusz Słowacki I Secondary School, Częstochowa); Bartłomiej Kiszka (Casimir the Great I Secondary School, Olkusz) and Filip Kaczmarzyk (Juliusz Słowacki I Secondary School, Częstochowa).

Laureates and finalists will have the right to be admitted into such fields of study as History or Political Science at the University of Gdańsk outside the regular recruitment procedure.

“I would really like you to be successful. My generation destroyed the bad world order and I leave the building of the new order to you. You don’t need a lot, you just have to become involved”, former President Lech Wałęsa told the participants.

Co-organisers of the quiz include the University of Gdańsk, the Lech Wałęsa Foundation and the Czersk Municipality which was also the event initiator. Honorary Patronage was taken by Mieczysław Struk, Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship; Lech Wałęsa, former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; Paweł Adamowicz, Mayor of the City of Gdańsk, and Magdalena Pramfelt, Honorary Consul of Sweden in Gdańsk.

Agnieszka Malinowska