In Oslo on Friday, the Nobel committee is due to announce this year’s laureates for the Nobel Peace Prize, with Malala Yousufzai the favourite to pick up the coveted award.
The 16-year-old Pakistani girl, who rallied against the Taliban after they closed her school in Mingora due to a barbaric interpretation of Islamic law, was near-fatally shot in October 2012 in an effort to silence her campaign for education in Pakistan.
Having survived the attack, Malala continued her struggle, garnering the favour of world opinion in her quest for children’s education.
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For most watching around the world, Yousufzai would be a worthy winner. Yet the history of the award has rarely been uncontroversial, with a raft of recipients gracing the stage over previous decades that have provoked amusement, bafflement and even outrage.
Should Nobel once again spring a surprise, look for Edward Snowden (in absentia), Chelsea Manning (in absentia) or even former KBG hood Vladimir Putin, affectionately known as the "butcher of Grozny" in Chechnya, picking up Nobel's biggest and perhaps most unpredictable prize.
Here are some of the Nobel Peace Prize’s more controversial winners…