The orientation of the foundation, which has conferred its prizes every two years since 1979, was highlighted by the prize winners nominated for the first awards on 19. October 1979 in the Pálffy Palace in Vienna. Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez, archbishop of Santiago de Chile, president of Caritas Internationalis (1962-1965), one of the leading defenders of human rights and union rights against the Pinochet regime, Miguel Obando y Bravo, elevated to cardinal as archbishop of Managua in 1985, and the Committee of the International Alliance of Free Trade Unions for the Defence of Human Rights in Latin America were the first prize winners from Latin America.

	„Only revolutions without bloodshed reach their goal.“ 7.12.1989, Bruno Kreisky on the occasion of the award of the Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Peace Prize
Bruno Kreisky and Cardenal Raúl Silva Henríquez.

Another prize went to Amnesty International, the Austrian branch and Gruppe II of ai in Austria for their engagement for political prisoners in Argentina.

Christiaan Frederick Beyers Naudé, the theologian and critic of South African apartheid, who was banned by the apartheid regime, and the married couple Jean and Dr. Hildegard Goss-Mayr for their pacifist engagement and contribution to East-West dialogue, also received awards.

Winners of the first Bruno Kreisky Prize for human rights: Issam Sartawi, Lova Eliav, Erzbischof Miguel Obando y Bravo, Bruno Kreisky Kreisky, Kardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez, Hildegard und Jean Gross-Mayr, Otto Kersten.

A special aspect was most certainly the granting of a joint award to the Israeli politician Arie Lova Eliav and the Palestinian doctor and politician Issam Sartawi. The award was at Kreisky's suggestion. This award to two pioneers of an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue aimed to encourage their early initiative for peace, and to give public and media support to those seeking dialogue on both sides. Issam Sartawi, who met opposition from the Palestinian leadership, and criticism from radical Palestinians for his readiness to enter dialogue and for accepting the prize along with Arie Lova Eliav, fell victim to a Palestinian murder assault in Albufeira in Portugal in 1983.

	Issam Sartawi und Lova Eliav, behind right: Egon Matzner