Achievements: Mohandas K.  Gandhi was the spiritual and political leader of the Indian independence movement and an advocate of nonviolent resistance as a means to effect social change. Gandhi assumed a leading role in the Indian National Congress in 1921 and transformed the party into a mass movement dedicated to ending social and economic discrimination against Indians and achieving India's complete independence. He was also a vocal advocate for the emancipation of the Hindu "untouchable" class, as well as unity between the Hindu and Muslim communities. Following India's declaration of independence, he opposed the partition of India and Pakistan. Gandhi was shot and killed by a radical Hindu nationalist on Jan. 30, 1948.

Behind the scene History's most famous pacifist is probably the peace prize's most famous omission, and the Nobel Foundation has even a Web page explaining its side of the story. Gandhi made the Nobel short list three times: in 1937, 1947, and then posthumously in 1948. In 1937, the committee's advisor criticized Gandhi's dual role as a peace activist and political leader of an independence movement, writing that he "is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician."

As India and Pakistan achieved independence in 1947, Gandhi's crowning triumph was tempered by the violence and dislocation that resulted. With tensions growing in the summer of 1947, the Nobel committee hesitated to award the peace prize to someone so closely identified with one of the combatants. The committee also seems to have been affected by regional and racial biases; most of the prior awards had been given to white European men.

Although the committee considered awarding Gandhi the prize in 1948, following his assassination, Alfred Nobel's will clearly required that the award be given to a living person. However, the decision to not dispense any award that year because "there was no suitable living candidate" appears to be an implicit admission that the committee missed its opportunity to recognize Gandhi's accomplishments.