--- description: Here's the speech Elie Wiesel gave while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Dec. 10, 1986. He died July 2 at the age of 87. title: Read Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d5b9d71af14e6d0/69889a7b196cf47a5703c453/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [remembrance](/tag/remembrance/) ## remembrance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2016 8:53 PM CUT  Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee Egil Aarvik, right, with Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, his wife Marion and son Elisha after Wiesel received the award, Dec. 10, 1986. Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee Egil Aarvik, right, with Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, his wife Marion and son Elisha after Wiesel received the award, Dec. 10, 1986.Bjoern Sigurdsoen—AP  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 2, 2016 8:53 PM CUT [Elie Wiesel](http://time.com/4392241/elie-wiesel-10-questions/ "undefined"), the [Holocaust survivor](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988156-1,00.html "undefined") who served as a voice for millions and prominently drove attention toward that and other mass atrocities in the 20th century, [died Saturday](http://time.com/4392239/elie-wiesel-dead-holocaust-survivor/?xid=homepage "undefined") at the age of 87\. Wiesel was [honored with the Nobel Peace Prize](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,962649,00.html "undefined") in 1986. At the time, the Nobel committee said he had “emerged as one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and racism continue to characterize the world.” Below is the [speech](https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel%5Fprizes/peace/laureates/1986/wiesel-acceptance%5Fen.html "undefined") Wiesel gave while accepting the prize in Oslo on Dec. 10, 1986. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4392267/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4392267/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize-speech/"},"headline":"Read Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech","datePublished":"2016-07-02T20:53:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:01:34.592Z","description":"'This both frightens and pleases me'","url":"https://time.com/4392267/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize-speech/","keywords":["remembrance","Holocaust","Nobel Peace Prize","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d5b9d71af14e6d0/69889a7b196cf47a5703c453/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3d5b9d71af14e6d0/69889a7b196cf47a5703c453/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wiesel Aarvik","caption":"Chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee Egil Aarvik, right, with Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, his wife Marion and son Elisha after Wiesel received the award, Dec. 10, 1986.","creditText":"Bjoern Sigurdsoen—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4392267/elie-wiesel-dead-nobel-peace-prize-speech/","name":"Read Elie Wiesel's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech"}}]}] ```