| Four Freedoms Award | |
|---|---|
PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt, painted byFrancis Owen Salisbury, 1947 | |
| Country | United States |
| Established | 1982 |
Ribbon of the award | |
TheFour Freedoms Award is an annual award presented to "those men and women whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles whichUSPresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed in hisFour Freedoms speech to theUnited States Congress on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: "freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear". The annual award is handed out in alternate years inNew York City by theRoosevelt Institute toAmericans and inMiddelburg,Netherlands, by theRoosevelt Stichting to non-Americans.
The awards were first presented in 1982 on the centennial of President Roosevelt's birth as well as the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between theUnited States and theNetherlands. The awards were founded to celebrate the Four Freedoms espoused by President Roosevelt in his speech:
For each of the four freedoms, an award was instituted, as well as a special Freedom medal. In 1990, 1995, 2003, and 2004, there were also special awards.
In odd years, the awards are presented to American citizens or institutions by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute inNew York City, though in the past, the American awards were given in Hyde Park, New York. In even years, the award ceremony is held in Middelburg and honors non-Americans. The choice of Middelburg was motivated by the suspected descent of the family Roosevelt fromOud-Vossemeer in the municipalityTholen.


The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941
| Year | Middelburg | Year | Hyde Park |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Max van der Stoel | 1983 | Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. |
| 1984 | Amnesty International | 1985 | Kenneth B. Clark |
| 1986 | El País | 1987 | Herbert Block |
| 1988 | Ellen Johnson Sirleaf | 1989 | Walter Cronkite |
| 1990 | No Award | 1991 | James Reston |
| 1992 | Mstislav Rostropovich | 1993 | Arthur Miller |
| 1994 | Marion Dönhoff | 1995 | Mary McGrory |
| 1996 | John Hume | 1997 | Sidney R. Yates |
| 1998 | CNN | 1999 | John Lewis |
| 2000 | Bronisław Geremek | 2001 | The New York Times and the Ochs/Sulzberger Family |
| 2002 | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | 2003 | Studs Terkel |
| 2004 | Lennart Meri | 2005 | Tom Brokaw |
| 2006 | Carlos Fuentes | 2007 | Bill Moyers |
| 2008 | Lakhdar Brahimi | 2009 | Anthony Romero |
| 2010 | Novaya Gazeta | 2011 | Michael J. Copps |
| 2012 | Al Jazeera | 2013 | Paul Krugman |
| 2014 | Maryam Durani | 2015 | Arthur Mitchell |
| 2016 | Mazen Darwish | 2017 | Dan Rather |
| 2018 | Erol Önderoğlu | 2019 | The Boston Globe |
| 2020 | Maria Ressa | 2021 | Nikole Hannah-Jones |
| 2022 | Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi | 2023 | Tracie Hall |
| 2024 | Bellingcat | 2025 | Teen Vogue |
1982 | 1999 | 2010 |

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941
1983 | 1985 | 1986 | 2012 |

The third is freedom from want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941
| Year | Middelburg | Year | Hyde Park |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | H. Johannes Witteveen | 1983 | Robert S. McNamara |
| 1984 | Liv Ullmann | 1985 | John Kenneth Galbraith |
| 1986 | F. Bradford Morse | 1987 | Mary Lasker |
| 1988 | Halfdan T. Mahler | 1989 | Dorothy I. Height |
| 1990 | Emile van Lennep | 1991 | Paul Newman andJoanne Woodward |
| 1992 | Jan Tinbergen | 1993 | Eunice Kennedy Shriver andSargent Shriver |
| 1994 | Sadako Ogata | 1995 | Lane Kirkland |
| 1996 | Médecins Sans Frontières | 1997 | Mark O. Hatfield |
| 1998 | Stéphane Hessel | 1999 | George S. McGovern |
| 2000 | M. S. Swaminathan | 2001 | March of Dimes |
| 2002 | Gro Harlem Brundtland | 2003 | Dolores Huerta |
| 2004 | Marguerite Barankitse | 2005 | Marsha J. Evans |
| 2006 | Muhammad Yunus,Grameen Bank | 2007 | Barbara Ehrenreich |
| 2008 | Jan Egeland | 2009 | Vicki Escarra |
| 2010 | Maurice Strong | 2011 | Jacqueline Novogratz |
| 2012 | Ela Bhatt | 2013 | Coalition of Immokalee Workers |
| 2014 | Hawa Abdi Diblaawe | 2015 | Dr.Olufunmilayo Olopade |
| 2016 | Dr.Denis Mukwege | 2017 | Ai-jen Poo |
| 2018 | Emmanuel de Merode | 2019 | Franklin A. Thomas |
| 2020 | Sander de Kramer [nl] | 2021 | Deepak Bhargava |
| 2022 | Nice Nailantei Leng'ete | 2023 | Ady Barkan |
| 2024 | Sônia Guajajara | 2025 | World Central Kitchen |
1983 | 1987 | 2006 | 2012 |

The fourth is freedom from fear — which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world.
— Roosevelt, January 6, 1941
| Year | Middelburg | Year | Hyde Park |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | J. Herman van Roijen | 1983 | Jacob K. Javits |
| 1984 | Brian Urquhart | 1985 | Isidor Rabi |
| 1986 | Olof Palme (posthumously) | 1987 | George Kennan |
| 1988 | Armand Hammer | 1989 | J. William Fulbright |
| 1990 | Simon Wiesenthal | 1991 | Mike Mansfield |
| 1992 | Lord Carrington | 1993 | George Ball |
| 1994 | Zdravko Grebo | 1995 | Elliot Richardson |
| 1996 | Shimon Peres | 1997 | Daniel K. Inouye |
| 1998 | Craig Kielburger | 1999 | Robert O. Muller |
| 2000 | Louise Arbour | 2001 | W.W. II veterans as represented by |
| 2002 | Ernesto Zedillo | 2003 | Robert C. Byrd |
| 2004 | Max Kohnstamm | 2005 | Lee H. Hamilton andThomas Kean |
| 2006 | Aung San Suu Kyi | 2007 | Brent Scowcroft |
| 2008 | Willemijn Verloop -War Child | 2009 | Pasquale J. D'Amuro |
| 2010 | Gareth Evans | 2011 | Bryan A. Stevenson |
| 2012 | Hussain al-Shahristani | 2013 | Ameena Matthews |
| 2014 | Malala Yousafzai | 2015 | The Nation |
| 2016 | Human Rights Watch | 2017 | Cristina Jiménez Moreta |
| 2018 | Urmila Chaudhary | 2019 | Sandy Hook Promise |
| 2020 | Leoluca Orlando | 2021 | Worker Rights Activists for the Excluded Workers Fund |
| 2022 | ÜniKuir | 2023 | Bennie Thompson |
| 2024 | Grace Forrest | 2025 | Center for Victims of Torture |
1989 | 1999 | 2000 | 2006 |
| 1984 | Simone Veil (Centennial Award) | 2002 | William vanden Heuvel | 2005 | BBC World Service |
| 1990 | Mikhail Gorbachev | 2003 | Arthur Schlesinger Jr. | 2005 | Mary Soames |
| 1995 | Jonas Salk | 2004 | Anton Rupert | 2006 | Mike Wallace |
| 1995 | Ruud Lubbers | 2004 | Bob Dole | 2008 | Forrest Church |
1984 | 1990 | 1995 | 2005 | 2008 |