Bajer, Fredrik (1837–1922)

Danish soldier, writer, teacher, and politician. He shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1908 with Swedish politician Klas Pontus Arnoldson for his political work and his writing in support of peace.

Through his experiences as a military figure, he became a convinced pacifist and an outstanding spokesman for arbitration and peace. His publications include Nordiske Neutralitetsforbund (1885), Tactics for the Friends of Peace (1891), and A Serious Drama of Modern History: How Danish Slesvig was Lost (1907).

Bajer was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, into a Protestant family. Joining the Danish army in 1856 at the age of 19, Bajer was an accomplished military man, but left the army in 1865 to become a teacher and writer. He became well known as an educationalist and was also a leading spokesperson for women's equality and a promoter of Scandinavian unity. He left teaching in 1872 to become a politician, retiring from that role in 1895.