Thorolf Rafto

In his younger days Rafto competed on national level in athletics, and won the Norwegian championships in decathlon in 1947.

During World War II, Thorolf Rafto fled to Britain and served with the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

In 1973, Rafto travelled to Odessa, where he witnessed the persecution of intellectuals and Soviet Jewish refuseniks, who had applied for emigration to Israel.

[4] The fall of the Iron Curtain and the consequential democratization of Eastern European states caused reconsider of the mission of the foundation.

The initial idea of the Rafto Prize is to provide a basic informative platform for the laureates that would help to receive further attention from the international media and support from political and non-political organisations.