The awarding of the laureates of the first International Peace Prize named after Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy will take place on September 9 at the Bolshoi Theater. This was stated by the First Deputy Director General of TASS, Professor Mikhail Gusman.

“On September 9 this year, the State Bolshoi Theater of Russia will host a solemn ceremony of awarding the first laureates of this International Peace Prize named after Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy,” he said during a round table in TASS dedicated to the preparation for the award. Gusman pointed out that some time ago a number of Russian public organizations, in particular the Russian Historical Society headed by Sergei Naryshkin, the Russian Military Historical Society headed by Vladimir Medinsky, the Russian Peace Foundation headed by Leonid Slutsky and some other organizations, took the initiative to create a foundation that will deal with the problems of understanding the issues of war and the world at the present stage. “An award was established, which was named after Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy — the International Peace Prize named after Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy.

We also call it the Tolstoy Prize,” added the first Deputy General Director of TASS. “As is customary at such ceremonies, the intrigue of who will be the first winner of this award will probably persist until the last or penultimate moment,” Guzman said. Previously, there was a practice of awarding peace prizes in Moscow. In particular, in 1956, instead of the corresponding Stalin Prize (awarded since 1949), the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace between Peoples” was established. It was considered an analogue of the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1989, it was renamed the International Lenin Peace Prize. The last recipient in 1990 was the leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela.

Photo by Artyom Geodakian/TASS