The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize (Rafto Prize) is a human rights award established in the memory of the Norwegian human right activist, Thorolf Rafto.

The prize is awarded annually by the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, which was founded in the humanistic tradition of the Helsinki Accords in order to promote the fundamental human rights of intellectual and political freedom. Today, the foundation is based at the Human Rights House in Bergen, Norway. The major work of the foundation, including the organization of the award ceremony is done by a small team of professional staff and volunteers. The award ceremony takes place at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen annually in November.

The initial idea of the Rafto Prize was 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. By awarding the Rafto Prize, the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights seeks to bring attention to independent voices that due to oppressive and corruptive regimes are not always heard. For example, four Rafto Laureates have subsequently received further international assistance and were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Aung San Suu Kyi, Jose Ramos-Horta, Kim Dae-jung and Shirin Ebadi were awarded the Rafto Prize prior to the Nobel Peace Prize.

Thorolf Rafto (July 6, 1922 - November 4, 1986) was a human rights activist and professor in Economic History at the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. During a visit to Prague in 1979 to hold a lecture for students excluded from the universities for political reasons, Rafto was beaten up by the communist security police.^{[citation needed]} He suffered from the inflicted injuries the rest of his life and died in 1986 at the age of 64. The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established the same year, in gratitude for his efforts and inspiration.

Thorolf Rafto was born in 1922 in Bergen, Norway. His father, Robert Rafto was an Olympic gymnast and the winner of the Norwegian decathlon championships in 1918. In his younger days Rafto competed on national level in athletics, and won the Norwegian championships in decathlon in 1947.

During the World War II, Thorolf Rafto fled to Britain and served with the Royal Air Force. Back in Bergen after the war, he earned university degrees in Languages and History. In 1950, at the age of 28, Rafto married Helga Hatletvedt with whom, he had four children.

Aung San Suu Kyi MP AC (Burmese: ; MLCTS: aung hcan: cu. krany, IPA: [ʔàʊɴ sʰáɴ sṵ tɕì]; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma. In the 1990 general election, the NLD won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010, becoming one of the world's most prominent (now former) political prisoners.

Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country; at the time, she was one of only four people ever to receive the honor. In 2011, she was awarded the Wallenberg Medal.

Bogyoke (General) Aung San (Burmese: အောင်ဆန်း; MLCTS: buil hkyup aung hcan:, pronounced: [bòdʑoʊʔ àʊɴ sʰáɴ]); 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army (Tatmadaw), and considered to be the Father of (modern-day) Burma.

He was a founder of the Communist Party of Burma and was instrumental in bringing about Burma's independence from British colonial rule in Burma, but was assassinated six months before independence. He is recognized as the leading architect of independence, and the founder of the Union of Burma. Affectionately known as "Bogyoke" (General), Aung San is still widely admired by the Burmese people, and his name is still invoked in Burmese politics to this day.

Aung San had a daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is a recipient of a Nobel Peace an a Burmese politician.

Aung San was born to U Pha, a lawyer, and his wife Daw Suu in Natmauk, Magway District, in central Burma on 13 February 1915. His family was already well known in the Burmese resistance movement; his great uncle Bo Min Yaung fought against the British annexation of Burma in 1886.

Meira Kumar is an Indian politician and a five time Member of Parliament. She was elected unopposed as the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha on 3 June 2009.She was born on March 31, 1945 in Bihar, India.

She is a lawyer and a former diplomat. Prior to being a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, she has been elected earlier to the 8th, 11th, 12th and 14th Lok Sabha, wherein she remained Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (2004–2009).

Meira Kumar was born in the state of Bihar District Patna to the former Deputy Prime Minister and a prominent leader, Babu Jagjivan Ram and freedom fighter, Indrani Devi.

She did her M.A., LL.B, Educated at Indraprastha College and Miranda House, Delhi University.

In 1973, she joined the Indian Foreign Service and served at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius. She also served as a member of the India-Mauritius Joint Commission. While serving for IFS, she also worked in Embassy of India, Madrid from 1976 to 1977. She was at the High Commission of India in London from 1977 to 1979 and at Ministry of External Affairs from 1980 to 1985.