NEW YORK (AP) – The Nobel Peace Prize winner auctioned by Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov to raise money for Ukrainian children was sold Monday for $ 103.5 million overnight, breaking the old Nobel record. .
A spokesman for Heritage Auctions, which made the sale, could not confirm the identity of the buyer, but said the winning bid was made by Prox. The $ 103.5 million sale translates to $ 100 million in Swiss francs, indicating that the buyer is from abroad.
“I was hoping it was huge solidarity, but I didn’t expect it to be that much,” Muratov said in an interview after being offered at the nearly three -week auction that ended on World Refugee Day.
Previously, the highest prize paid for the Nobel Prize was $ 4.76 million in 2014, when James Watson, whose joint discovery of DNA structure brought him the Nobel Prize in 1962, sold his. Three years later, the family of her co-star, Frances Creek, received $ 2.27 million in a competition also run by Heritage Auctions.
Muratov, who received a gold medal in October 2021, helped create Russia’s independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and became its chief editor when it closed in March amid public controversy over the Kremlin’s attacks on journalists and aggression. in Russia. Of Ukraine.
Muratov’s idea was to auction his prize, he has already announced that he will donate the associated $ 500,000 cash prize to charity.
Muratov said the proceeds would go directly to UNICEF to help children displaced by the war in Ukraine. Minutes after the bidding was completed, UNICEF told the auction house that the funds had been received.
The online competitions began on June 1 to coincide with International Child Protection Day. Many offers come over the phone or online. The winning phone race took the race from the low million to the astronomical level.
Muratov left Russia on Thursday to begin a trip to New York, where a direct tender began on Monday night.
On Monday, the high price was just $ 550,000. The purchase price should increase, but not more than $ 100 million.
“I can’t believe it. I was shocked. Personally I was amazed. I was amazed.” I don’t really know what happened there, “said Joshua Benesh, chief strategist at Heritage Auctions.
“We know that in the last two days there has been a lot of interest from people guided by Dimitri’s story, by Dimitri’s generosity, that the audience in the world has heard tonight,” he said.
Officials from Muratov and Heritage said that even those who did not participate in the tender could still provide direct assistance to UNICEF.
Muratov shared the Nobel Peace Prize with a Filipino reporter Maria Resa last year.
The 175 gram cast of 23-carat gold contained in the Muratov Medal costs approximately $ 10,000.
Muratov strongly criticized Crimea’s annexation to Russia in 2014 and the war began in February It caused nearly 5 million Ukrainians to flee other countries for security reasons, creating the biggest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the second war. world.
In Russia, independent journalists have become the center of the Kremlin’s attention, regardless of whether they are the government’s clear target or not. Since Putin came to power more than two decades ago, nearly two dozen journalists have been killed, including at least four who worked for Muratov’s newspaper.
Since its founding in 1901, it has received nearly 1,000 Nobel Prizes for advances in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.
Associated Press writer Andrew Kettle contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.