The former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev has agreed to nominate Russian actresses and charity activists Chulpan Khamatova and Dina Korzun for the Nobel Peace Prize.

΄The idea belongs to the editor-in-chief of Russia`s "Novaya Gazeta". Dmitry Muratov suggested it to Gorbachev, who`s a Nobel Peace prize winner himself and therefore has the right to nominate. Muratov said the two actresses are worthy of the prize for "self-sacrifice and the saving of thousands of kids."

"This would be right if the Nobel Committee would for the first time award this foundation or some other, whose settlers and workers dedicate their lives to saving other people," he believes.

The journalist says Gorbachev immediately supported the idea without hesitation.

The "Gift of Life" foundation was established in 2006 by Khamatova and Korzun, who are among the most talented and sought-after film and stage actresses in Russia.

The organization is aimed at helping children defeat cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.

In Russia, treatment for cancer and other potentially fatal diseases is only partly covered by the state. The foundation`s website points out that a large proportion of the cost - as much as 66 per cent - must be paid for by families who often live below the poverty line.

Currently the "Gift of Life" is one of Russia`s most successful fundraising operations.

Khamatova said she highly values the opinion of Dmitry Muratov and his colleagues and thanked "Novaya Gazeta", which helped attract public attention and raise charity for fighting child cancer. The actress stressed that the foundation exists thanks to hundreds if not thousands of people - doctors, blood donors, benefactors and journalists.

More than 200 people have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, among them former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Russian human rights activists Lyudmila Alekseeva and Svetlana Gannushkina, former US president Bill Clinton, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and US Army analyst Bradley Manning, who is accused of leaking thousands of "classified" documents to WikiLeaks.

The winners will be named in December. In 2011 the prize was awarded to three women: Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, her compatriot, peace activist Leymah Gbowee, and Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman, for their work on women`s rights.
sections: Culture