Born to a working family, he became Member of Parliament and secretary of the International Arbitration League.
In using his influence as Member of Parliament and his prestige as a trade union leader, he was deeply convinced that the only acceptable way of achieving peace is arbitration.
He also supported freedom movements such as the Polish January Uprising and Garibaldi’s uprising in Italy. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in particular for promoting the idea of international cooperation between parliamentarians and arbitration in international conflicts.
