Antarctic Tuzelmann Award (Great White South)

The following Great White South page is under construction. Please do not edit or alter this article in any way while this template is active. All unauthorized edits may be reverted on the admin's discretion. Propose any changes to the talk page.

History

The Antarctic Tuzelmann Award (ATA) is one of (if not the) most prestigious award bestowed unto an Antarctic citizen. Similar to the Nobel Peace Prize, the ATA is awarded annually to any citizen in one of the Antarctic territories who have made outstanding contributions to their country, their continent, keeping peace, and promoting equality (it is occasionally awarded for contributions to Literature or Science, like the other Nobel Prizes). Before 1953, a government-chosen committee in Maudland presented the ATA, until Maudland joined the Antarctic Assembly and the Antarctic Tuzelmann Award Committee was formed at the South Pole with 22 members. To date, Maudland has been the recipient of most of the awards, with Santiago (a close ally of Maudland) coming second.

The ATA has been awarded annually, with the only exceptions being due to war.

Traditionally, the Award has been bestowed on a single person each year, with the only exception being in 1938, when it was jointly awarded to Lawrence Waltham and George Seale. Although the Antarctic Tuzelmann Award Committee nomination rules do not prohibit joint awards, this has only been done once.

Procedure

Each year, the ceremony opens with a demonstration or performance (often with a military theme) involving at least one representative from each Antarctic nation. After this, the Chairman of the ATA Committee delivers a brief address; before a keynote speech from a well-known Antarctic individual, usually a politician, artist, or scientist. Every Director General of the South Pole has given an ATA keynote speech at least once during his tenure.

There are usually one or two shorter speeches after the keynote speech, and the major events of the year from around Antarctica (and the rest of the world) are recapped and discussed. After this, the nominees are officially announced (though they are unofficially informed roughly one month before the ceremony); and the previous year's laureate gives a brief speech expressing how they have continued their work since the year before.

Finally, the previous year's laureate presents the award to the winner, who delivers an acceptance speech. There is often a closing act or performance to end the ceremony, though this varies from year to year. An after-party is typically held on the roof of the Amundsen-Scott Station for the year's nominees.

In the event that the previous year's laureate is unable to attend, the award is presented by the Chairman of the ATA Committee or the Director-General of the South Pole. In 1945, King Haakon VII of Norway presented the award, to mark the significance of the first post-war ceremony.

Controversy

Since the founding of the Tuzelmann Award, there has been much controversy surrounding some of the Laureates it has been awarded to. Many leaders, such as Sir Forest Kosluck and Daniel Quilt, were nominated for the award but were overlooked which caused much dispute in their home country.

Many have stated that scientists, politicians and authors from New Swabia and Bellinsgauzenia had made contributions that would have them be considered for the Award, but due to Maudland having prejudicial views towards the country, and their boycott of the early years of the Antarctic Assembly, they have been omitted from being nominated.

Due to the close relationship between Maudland and Santiago multiple citizens of Antarctica, (and even Santiago) have been upset to the apparent favouritism of this country. An example of this is the 1953 Laureate Felipe Juárez, who was an unpopular President of Santiago who did little for his country and was accused of being corrupt, was awarded the ATA due to his work in environmentalism and the Antarctic Assembly.

The "Cursed Decade", (see below), was a period in the Awards history where 6 of the 11 Laureates were assassinated due to controversial issues, and one other was wounded on two occasions.

"Cursed Decade"

The "Cursed Decade" is a term used to describe the history of the ATA between 1961 to 1971, in which 6 of the 11 Laureates were assassinated shortly after winning the award. Those assassinated were:

Laureate	Name	Country	Assassinated	Perpetrator
1961	Sir Eustace Singline	New Vestfold	1966-03-14	Aatsista Nik'alk
1964	Nazar Popov	Bellinsgauzenia	1966-06-09	Bellinsgauzenian Government (alleged)
1966	Lord Beauford Carter	New Devon	1967-11-21	Russian Continental Army
1968	Pekka Tulenheimo	Santiago	1969-06-03	Allende Syndicate
1969	Donald Goat	Eduarda	1972-04-15	Anne Nishauk
1971	Randy Numbulwar	New Vestfold	1972-01-26	Halcón Syndicate

In addition to these assassinations, the 1965 laureate Emmanuel Peláez was wounded during two separate assassination attempts — one in 1966, the other in 1971 — but he survived both of these attacks.

The assassinations were usually motivated by the Laureate's work which had won them the award. For example, Pekka Tulenheimo was assassinated by an organized crime syndicate less than a year after he won the ATA for battling organized crime. Some of the assassins wanted to "send a message" to the ATA Committee for awarding the Prize to a controversial figure — the RCA killed Lord Carter in Amundsen-Scott just days before he was to present the next award (it is customary for a Laureate to present the award to the following year's Laureate).

Many have tried to explain the unusually high rate of assassinations during this period; usually citing the political reforms Antarctica was going through at the time as the cause. Few of the assassinations were linked – or even performed by the same perpetrator – so most historians consider it a mere coincidence; but some theorists have suggested that a major conspiracy may be to blame for most (if not all) of the "Cursed Decade" assassinations. Some have even linked them to other contemporary assassinations, such as John F. Kennedy's and Dr. Martin Luther King's. Most prominent historians reject these conspiracy theories.

Laureates

Year	Portrait	Laureate	Country	Rationale / Notes
1901		Dagfinn Lund	Swedish-Norwegian Antarctica
1902		Halvard Olhouser	Swedish-Norwegian Antarctica
1903		Snorre C. Toov	Swedish-Norwegian Antarctica
1904		Tryggve Tidemand	Swedish-Norwegian Antarctica
1905		Luciano Hernandez II	Santiago	Diplomat and Santiago's first Foreign Secretary who helped establish most of his country's first embassies and consulates. Awarded for his contributions to Santiago's fledgling foreign relations.
1906		Olav Vilhjalmsson	Norwegian Antarctica
1907		Otto Nordenskiold	Norwegian Antarctica
1908		Miguel Suárez	Santiago	First President of Santiago. Awarded for his unification and establishment of the country, forming its first alliances, and encouraging anti-Colonial independence for other Antarctic nations.
1909		Dominigo Edgardo de Maurell	Santiago	Physician and anthropologist. Awarded for his studies and papers on the indigenous peoples of the continent; and his pioneering support for equal treatment for them.
1910		Bernhard von Grimmelshausen	New Swabia
1911		Egill Bensten	Norwegian Antarctica
1912		Charlotte Bergfalk	Norwegian Antarctica
1913		Vladimir Uritski	Russian Antarctica	Governor of Petrovia.
1914	Not awarded
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919		Fritjof Hummel	Norwegian Antarctica	Governor of Maudland. A posthumous citation was also given to Nikolai Gorchakov, who had been assassinated the year before, but the Award cannot be given to a deceased person.
1920		Francisco Bodega	Santiago	President of Santiago and leader of the country's pro-Allied coup in 1915. Awarded for the coup, the peace treaties he made with the Allies and the reconstruction policies he enacted after its success.
1921		Hemming Hult	Norwegian Antarctica
1922		Quentin E. Cleaver	Territory of Western Antarctica	General of the American peace troops in Antarctica. Awarded for his contribution to ensuring peace during WWI and the Russian Civil War, as well as helping form the Territory of Western Antarctica.
1923		Lea Fromm	Antarctic Mandate
1924		Njáll Clausen	Norwegian Antarctica
1925		Lars Eklund	Norwegian Antarctica	Last surviving member of the original committee and founders of the ATA. Awarded for his help in starting the Award and for helping it survive through WWI.
1926		Sir Sebastian Chauncer	Eduarda	First Prime Minister of Eduarda. Awarded for his work in the Eduardan self-determination movement which had won the country's independence in 1921.
1927		Juan Schmidt	Santiago	President of Santiago. Awarded for greatly tightening his country's alliance with Maudland, and for "the nurturing of Santiago's growing private sector, and exemplary leadership to enhance the country's economic boom".
1928		Anne Frisk	Norwegian Antarctica
1929		Thompson X. Thompson	Eduarda	Eduardan poet. Awarded for his advancements in Antarctic literature and his philanthropy.
1930		Konrad Kahler	Antarctic Mandate	Economist and advisor to Governor Chauncer. Kahler was responsible for most of the policies which helped save the New Swabian economy from the full force of the Great Depression.
1931		Elvin Watson	New Devon
1932		Werner M. Langenberg	Norwegian Antarctica
1933		Vivian Koch	Norwegian Antarctica
1934		Leroy Frank Johnston	Territory of Western Antarctica
1935		Harold Oakland	New Vestfold	Vestian ornithologist. Awarded for his extensive and beneficial research into the penguin species that inhabit the continent.
1936		Pavel Sokoll	Bellinsgauzenia
1937		Richard Ansill	Ross Dependency
1938		George Seale and Lawrence Waltham	Palmeria and Grahamland	Only joint honor in the history of the ATA. Waltham and Seale were the Governors of their respective territories. Awarded for their close collaboration in bringing a final and lasting peace to the former Russian West Antarctica, which had been in turmoil since the Russian Civil War two decades earlier.
1939	Not awarded
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944		Matthias Bryn	Norwegian Antarctica	The first Premier of Maudland. Awarded for his work for Maudlandic independence and his leadership in WWII.
1945		Mike Townsend	Ross Dependency	In 1945, the committee decided to present the Award to an ordinary low-ranking soldier, who would represent all of the Antarctic troops who had fought and died during World War II. Townsend had served as a fighter pilot in both the Antarctic and Pacific campaigns, and was one of the most decorated members of the Ross Dependency's military. The committee narrowly chose him over McKinley O'Hara of Byrdia, who later became the 3rd Director-General of the South Pole. This was also the only award presented by a Monarch - King Haakon VII of Norway.
1946		Joan Roman	New Devon
1947		José Guerrero	Santiago	President of Santiago. Collective award for 16 years of Presidency (he served 20 years in total; four of which were after winning the ATA). Awarded for his leadership during the Great Depression, the Bellinsgauzenia War, World War II and the post-War reconstruction period.
1948		Rafael Zavala Sr	Santiago	Mayor of San Martín. Awarded for his years of work in developing the city, to the point that it was granted statehood and called "the most modern city on the continent".
1949		Lord Graeme Granville	Eduarda	Governor-General of Eduarda and former Ambassador to Great Britain. Awarded for his contributions in creating peace and stability after World War II. Helped form the Antarctic Assembly.
1950		Julius A. Krug	Byrdia Territory	First Director-General of the South Pole. Awarded for his assistance in forming the Antarctic Assembly and for overseeing the trials of a majority of the New Swabian war criminals.
1951		Knut Laxness	Maudland	Founder of the Laxness Antarctic Orphanage, a series of orphanages around the continent which housed numerous children; many of whom had lost their parents in World War II. The LAO was also one of the only foreign non-profit organizations allowed to operate in New Swabia at the time.
1952		Hedvig Ostberg	Maudland
1953		Felipe Juárez	Santiago	President of Santiago. Awarded for his pioneering support for environmentalism and animal rights; and for his work in encouraging more nations into joining the Antarctic Assembly.
1954		Hector Jelling	New Devon
1955		Gwen Earle	New Devon
1956		James Paul Woodward	New Devon
1957		Max Friedman	Maudland	Maudlandic diplomat. Awarded for his effort in convincing Maudland and Peter I Island to join the Antarctic Assembly.
1958		Carla Alberquero	Santiago
1959		Oddmund Luxmoore	Maudland
1960		Georgine Fauchex	Kerguelen
1961	File:10077587.jpg	Sir Eustace Singline	New Vestfold	Former Chief Minister of New Vestfold. Awarded for his helpful contributions in the Ognian Rebels Committee; and for the trialling of New Swabian war criminals. First Laureate of the "Cursed Decade" of the ATA (1961-71), in which 6 of the 11 laureates were assassinated shortly after winning the Award.
1962	File:AnnaLykke.png	Anna Lykke	Maudland	Premier of Maudland. Awarded for promoting positive femenist views across the continent and her ongoing attempts to better the relations with the country's neighbours.
1963		Pal Bager	Maudland
1964		Nazar Popov	Bellinsgauzenia	Pacifist and poet from Bellinsgauzenia. Awarded for his oppositon towards fascist and military controlled governments, his publications on the Bellinsgauzenian Government, and promoting pacifism.
1965		Emmanuel Peláez	Santiago	Director of the Department of National Intelligence. Awarded for his work in exposing and arresting several high-profile organized crime leaders, whose syndicates were operating across Antarctica.
1966		Lord Beauford Carter	New Devon	Governor-General and former Military leader. Awarded for his years of fighting (both militarily and politically) against militant Russian Nationalists, particularly the Russian Continental Army.
1967		Custodia de Merlo	Santiago
1968		Pekka Tulenheimo	Santiago	President of Santiago. Awarded for his extensive attempts to eradicate Santiago's organized crime syndicates; which had become problematic across Antarctica.
1969	File:D.Goat.jpg	Donald Goat	Eduarda	Eduardan Minister of Interior and Indigenous Affairs. Awarded for his endless work in the formation and development of reservations for AIPs in Eduarda.
1970		Jasper Smith	Eduarda	Playwright, poet and author. Awarded primarily for his two most famous works: the semi-autobiographical novel It Goes On, about his service in World War II; and the three-person-play The Airfield.
1971		Randy Numbulwar	New Vestfold	Chief Minister of New Vestfold. Awarded for his campaigning for better rights for Australian Aborigines. Last Laureate of the "Cursed Decade".
1972		Quaor Nugmar	Ognia	Ognian statesman and first Mayor of Medquar. Awarded for helping confederate the states of Ognia.
1973		Flavia Rubio	Santiago
1974		Mary Abraham	New Devon	Author. Awarded for the world-famous pro-Civil Rights novel The Railway, which remains the best-selling piece of literature in Antarctic history.
1975		Hunter S. Tamworth	New Devon
1976		Moana P’ikka	Ognia
1977		Ruth Delilah Howard	Eduarda
1978		Takehiko Fujimoto	Byrdia Territory	Japanese-Byrdian scientist. Awarded for his research and theories about the pre-history of Antarctica and why it may have increased in temperature.
1979	Not awarded
1980
1981
1982
1983		Thobias Mjoen	Maudland	Premier of Maudland. Awarded for his tireless devotion to democracy, his leadership in the New Swabian War, his attempts to increase Maudlandic independence and his role in New Swabia's reconstruction after the war.
1984		Otto Dietrich	New Swabia	Awarded for his efforts in restoring New Swabia to democracy and his long term opposition to the Fascist government.
1985		Franz Joseph von Ribbentrop	New Swabia
1986		Gretel Leverkusen	New Swabia
1987		Maximillion J. Arbuckle III	Byrdia	First Vice President of Byrdia. Awarded for his promotion of Byrdian independence.
1988		Oleg Bogomolov	Bellinsgauzenia	Former President of Bellinsgauzenia. Awarded for his efforts to increase his country's diplomatic relations, particularly with the Soviet Union; and for working with Director-General Pagovich to end Bellinsgauzenia's boycott of the Antarctic Assembly.
1989		Delfina Valencia	Santiago
1990		Herbert Spencer	Byrdia
1991	File:Elmo Focker.png	Elmo Focker	United Republic	First President of the United Republic. Awarded for his leadership in uniting the country's Russian, British and Indigenous populations in support of republicanism; and for winning independence peacefully.
1992		Dmitri Pagovich	Byrdia	Former Director-General of the South Pole. Awarded for his work in the Byrdian independence and civil rights movements; and for his skilled leadership of the Continent during a tumultuous period.
1993		Ambrosio Crúz	Santiago
1994		Roger MacFarlane	New Vestfold	Botanist. Awarded for pioneering work in the study of Antarctic flora. Currently studying at the University of Neumayer.
1995		Jeremy Thomas	Ross Dependency
1996		Roland Wendell	Eduarda
1997		Felix O’Brien	Eduarda
1998		Gilbert Hoftstadder	New Swabia
1999		Pierre C. Beaulieu	Kerguelen
2000		Lotte Svalbard	Maudland
2001		Nelson Muntikai	Ognia
2002		Alv Chrisstenssen	Maudland
2003		Darío Q. H. Salvador	Santiago
2004		Jacinta Andoretta	Santiago
2005		Oktyabirina Scherbatski	Bellinsgauzenia
2006		Ian Milford	United Republic
2007		William Harpo Pinkwater	United Republic
2008		Gonzalo Salazar	Santiago
2009		Matthew K. Solomon	Byrdia	Oil tycoon and one of the richest men in Antarctica. Founded the Blizzard Foundation which is a charity across the continent.
2010		Zane White	Balleny Islands	Awarded for his leadership of the Dissolutionist movement in the Ross Dependency, where he united Russo-Antarctic Nationalists and Ballenian autonomists to bring independence to both groups. Currently serving as MP for Cape Winchester, and Ballenian Leader of the Opposition.
2011		Heinrich Trelk	New Swabia	New Swabian general that defected to the NSLP after he was ordered to murder every firstborn in the city of Toll. He was given the award for "his tireless efforts in righting the wrongs that the deposed New Swabian Nazi Party had committed, and moving Antarctica and New Swabia into a prosperous future."