Ralph BunchePolitical Figure / Activist Born: 7 August 1903
Died: 9 December 1971 Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan Best known
as: The first black American to win the Nobel Peace Prize Name
at birth: Ralph Johnson Bunch Ralph Bunche was the first black
American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to him in
1950 for his mediation during the founding of the nation of
Israel. Born in Detroit, he moved west when he was a young
teenager. When he was 13 years old his father left the family,
his mother died of tuberculosis and Bunche's grandmother took
him to Los Angeles to raise (she also added the "e" to his
surname). A 1927 graduate of the University of California at Los
Angeles, Bunche studied political science and went on to earn a
Master's degree at Harvard in 1928 (he later got his doctorate
from Harvard, in 1934). An expert on the effects of European
colonialism, Bunche had an academic career as a political
science professor at Howard University (1928-50), and was
recognized nationally for his work in the