At 85, the girl who defied apartheid takes home the Nobel Peace Prize

Navanethem "Navi" Pillay was born in 1941 into an Indian Tamil family in Durban, and in 1967 became the first woman of color to practice law in South Africa's Natal province. She spent her career defending Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid activists, then carried that fight to the world: judge on South Africa's High Court, on the Rwanda tribunal and the International Criminal Court, UN human rights chief from 2008 to 2014, and now a judge on the International Court of Justice. On Friday the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded her the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize — and 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million) — for a lifetime spent defending international law. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called it a tribute to everyone who upholds the law. Pillay dedicated the prize to "all of the survivors of international crimes" and to "defenders of international justice."