"Helping Ukrainian Children"... Russian Journalist's Nobel Prize Auctioned at Record High Price

Editor-in-Chief of Russian Independent Media 'Novaya Gazeta'
Last Year's Nobel Peace Prize Medal Auctioned
Sold for $10.35 Million ... Highest Price for a Nobel Prize Auction

Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is taking a commemorative photo at The Times Center in New York, USA, on June 20. He auctioned his Nobel Prize medal to help Ukrainian refugee children, and the medal was sold for a record-high $10.35 million at the Nobel Prize auction that day.
Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who put up his Nobel Prize medal for auction to help Ukrainian refugee children, was sold for $103.5 million (approximately 133.3 billion KRW), the British daily The Guardian reported on the 20th (local time).

This is the highest amount ever recorded for a Nobel Prize auction. The previous highest bid for a Nobel Prize auction was the medal of James Watson, the 1962 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology, which was auctioned in 2014 for $4.76 million, easily surpassed this time.

The Nobel Prize medal contains 175g of 23-carat gold, and its current value based on the gold market price is only about $10,000.

Muratov co-founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 and has served as editor-in-chief since 1995, exposing corruption in Vladimir Putin's regime. He received the Nobel Peace Prize last year together with Filipino journalist Maria Ressa.

When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Muratov decided to auction his Nobel Prize to help Ukrainian refugee children. He plans to donate the auction proceeds to UNICEF.

Before the auction, Muratov told the Associated Press in an interview that he is especially worried about children orphaned by the Ukraine conflict and wants to give the children their future back.

In addition to the Nobel Prize auction, Muratov also expressed his intention to donate $500,000 to charity.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.