Leo Eitinger was born in Lomnice, Austria-Hungary (today South Moravian Region, Czech Republic).
He grew up as the youngest of six siblings in a Jewish middle class home as the son of Salomon Eitinger (1877–1942) and Helene Kurz (1885–1936).
He fled Nazi persecution of Jews and came to Norway as a refugee with the help of a Nansen passport (Nansenhjelpen) after the German occupation of the Czechoslovak Republic in March 1939.
[7][8] Eitinger was a board member and served a chairman of the Norwegian Psychiatric Association (Norsk Psykiatrisk Forening) from 1963 to 1967.
He served as chairman of the Psychiatric Section of the Forensic Commission and was President of the Nordic Psychiatry Congresse (Nordiske psykiaterkongresser) in 1962 and 1987.
Leo and Lisl Eitinger devoted their lives to the promotion of human rights and the fight against injustice and racism.
The award has been granted annually since 1986 in recognition of commitment to human rights issues or performance of outstanding research in psychiatry.