Gobat, Charles A(lbert) (1843–1914)

Swiss lawyer and statesman. Gobat shared the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1902 with Swiss politician Elie Ducommum, for his efforts for peace and his work as president of the fourth conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at Berne in 1892.

After winning the peace prize in 1902, Gobat's efforts in the cause of peace became even greater and in 1904 he went to the USA to lead the Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Saint Louis, Missouri. He firmly believed in arbitration and called on the USA to intervene in the Russo-Japanese War. He was simultaneously head of the two largest peace organizations in the world when he became president of the Berne International Peace Bureau on Ducommun's death in 1906.

Born in Tramelan, Switzerland, Gobat was educated at Heidelberg University, becoming a doctor of law in 1867. He practised as a lawyer from then until 1882 becoming professor of law at Berne University from 1882 to 1912. His publications include La République de Berne et la France Pendant les Guerres de Religions d'apres des Documents Inedits (1891), Histoire de la Suisse Racontée au Peuple/A People's History of Switzerland (1899), and La Cauchemar de l'Europe/ The Nightmare of Europe (1911).