Muhammad Ali will receive a prestigious German honor in December in recognition of his commitment to the U.S. civil rights movement and his work as a United Nations peace ambassador.
The former heavyweight champion will receive the Otto Hahn freedom medal Dec. 17, the German Society for the United Nations said.
He was cited for his “lifelong commitment to the American civil rights movement and the global cultural emancipation of black people, as well as his work as a U.N. peace ambassador,” the organizers said. It noted that Parkinson’s disease has been “unable to halt him in his commitment to society.”
Previous winners of the Otto Hahn medal, named after the Nobel prize-winning chemist, include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal and violinist Yehudi Menuhin.
