Erasmus Prize

Erasmus Prize
Awarded forNotable contributions to European culture, society, or social science
CountryNetherlands
Reward(s)€150,000[1]
First awarded1958
Last awardedAnnual award[1]
Websitehttp://www.erasmusprijs.org/ Edit this on Wikidata

The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world.[1] It is one of Europe's most distinguished recognitions.[2] The prize is named after Desiderius Erasmus, the Dutch Renaissance humanist.

Prize and adornment

As of 2024, the prize consists of €150,000[1] and an adornment that was designed by Bruno Ninaber van Eyben in 1995. The adornment is a ribbon folded in the style of a harmonica, with ends made of titanium plates. The ribbon bears a text in the handwriting of Erasmus taken from a letter to Jean Carondelet written on 5 January 1523. The text reads "variae sunt ingeniorum dotes multae seculorum varietates sunt. quod quisque potest in medium proferat nec alteri quisquam invideat qui pro sua virili suoque modo conatur publicis studiis utilitatis aliquid adiungere.", which translates as "Diverse are the gifts of men of genius and many are the different kinds of ages. Let each one reveal the scope of his competence and let no one be envious of another who in keeping with his own ability and style tries to make a useful contribution to the education of all."[3]

Ceremony

The award ceremony typically takes place at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, where the prize is presented by the patron of the Foundation (His Majesty the King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands as of 2015). A wide range of academic and cultural activities are organised around the Erasmus Prize award ceremony, in cooperation with other academic and cultural organisations. These have included lectures, conferences, workshops, exhibitions, performances of dance, music and theatre, and other educational activities. An essay on the topic of the laureate and their work is also published.[4]

The prize was first awarded in 1958. As of 2015 it has been awarded a total of 73 times in 53 years.[5][6] The area in which the Erasmus prize will be awarded is decided upon in advance by the Foundation's board. An advisory committee then consults with Dutch and foreign experts before proposing a laureate; the final choice of the laureate is then made by the Foundation's board.[4] In 2015, Wikipedia editors received the Erasmus Prize—under the theme 'Digital Culture'. According to the Foundation, Wikipedia: "has promoted the dissemination of knowledge through a comprehensive and universally acceptable encyclopedia available to everybody".[7] Three young representatives of the Wikipedia Community received the Erasmus Prize, each of them represented new initiatives within Wikipedia.

Young researchers

The Erasmus prize is not intended to stimulate young researchers.[4] However, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has awarded from 1988 yearly "Research Prizes" for exceptionally high quality PhD studies on the field of Law, Humanities, Social sciences.

Prize winners

Photo Year Winner Notes
1958 The People of Austria[8] Cultural heritage. Awarded at the University of Milan. Prize funds were granted to Austrians studying in Europe; foreign students studying in Austria; and excavations at Ephesus.
1959 Robert Schuman
1959 Karl Jaspers
1960 Marc Chagall
1960 Oskar Kokoschka
1962 Romano Guardini
1963 Martin Buber
1964 Union Académique Internationale
1965 Sir Charles Chaplin, Ingmar Bergman
1966 Herbert Read, René Huyghe
1967 Jan Tinbergen
1968 Henry Moore
1969 Gabriel Marcel, Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
1970 Hans Scharoun
1971 Olivier Messiaen
1972 Jean Piaget
1973 Claude Lévi-Strauss
1974 Ninette de Valois, Maurice Béjart
1975 Ernst Gombrich, Willem Sandberg
1976 Amnesty International, René David
1977 Werner Kaegi, Jean Monnet
1978 Puppet Theatre/Theme puppetry:
1979 Die Zeit, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
1980 Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt
1981 Jean Prouvé
1982 Edward Schillebeeckx
1983 Raymond Aron, Isaiah Berlin, Leszek Kołakowski, Marguerite Yourcenar
1984 Massimo Pallottino
1985 Paul Delouvrier
1986 Václav Havel
1987 Alexander King
1988 Jacques Ledoux
1989 International Commission of Jurists
1990 Grahame Clark
1991 Bernard Haitink
1992 General Archive of the Indies
1992 Simon Wiesenthal
1993 Peter Stein
1994 Sigmar Polke
1995 Renzo Piano
1996 William Hardy McNeill
1997 Jacques Delors
1998 Mauricio Kagel, Peter Sellars
1999 Mary Robinson
2000 Hans van Manen
2001 Claudio Magris, Adam Michnik
2002 Bernd and Hilla Becher
2003 Alan Davidson
2004 Abdolkarim Soroush, Sadik Al-Azm and Fatema Mernissi
2005 Simon Schaffer and Steven Shapin
2006 Pierre Bernard
2007 Péter Forgács
2008 Ian Buruma
2009 Antonio Cassese, Benjamin B. Ferencz
2010 José Antonio Abreu
2011 Joan Busquets
2012 Daniel Dennett
2013 Jürgen Habermas
2014 Frie Leysen[9] Theme of "Theatre, audience and society"
2015 Wikipedia community[5][2] For "[promoting] the dissemination of knowledge through a comprehensive and universally accessible encyclopaedia. To achieve that, the initiators of Wikipedia have designed a new and effective democratic platform. The prize specifically recognises Wikipedia as a community—a shared project that involves tens of thousands of volunteers around the world."
2016 A. S. Byatt[5][2] For inspiring contribution to 'life writing'
2017 Michèle Lamont[10] "For her devoted contribution to social science research into the relationship between knowledge, power and diversity"
2018 Barbara Ehrenreich[11] For giving "a voice to groups in society that would otherwise remain unheard"
2019 John Adams[12] "Because he has created a new musical idiom by fusing elements from jazz, pop and classical music"
2021 Grayson Perry[13] "Perry has developed a unique visual language, demonstrating that art belongs to everybody and should not be an elitist affair."
2022 David Grossman[14] "He seeks to understand people from within, and to regard the other with love, across borders of war and history."
2023 Trevor Noah[15] "... for his inspired contribution to the theme 'In Praise of Folly,' named after Erasmus’s most famous book, which is filled with humour, social criticism and political satire. With his sharp-minded, mocking yet inclusive political comedy, Noah, in the eyes of the jury, upholds the 'Erasmian Spirit.'"
2024 Amitav Ghosh "He receives the prize for his passionate contribution to the theme ‘imagining the unthinkable’, in which an unprecedented global crisis – climate change – takes shape through the written word. Ghosh has delved deeply into the question of how to do justice to this existential threat that defies our imagination. His work offers a remedy by making an uncertain future palpable through compelling stories about the past. He also wields his pen to show that the climate crisis is a cultural crisis that results from a dearth of the imagination."

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "over Erasmusprijs" (in Dutch). Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 July 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Wikipedia turns 14, receives prestigious Erasmus Prize 2015". Wikimedia Foundation. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Prize and Adornments". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Organisation". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Erasmus Prize". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Former Laureates". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Erasmusprijswinnaars". Stichting Praemium Erasmianum (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Former Laureats – The Austrian people". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Former Laureates". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Nieuws :: Praemium Erasmianum". erasmusprijs.org (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  11. ^ Press release: 2018 Erasmus Prize awarded to Barbara Ehrenreich (Retrieved 1 May 2018)
  12. ^ Press release: 2019 Erasmus Prize awarded to John Adams (Retrieved 21 February 2019)
  13. ^ "Grayson Perry". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  14. ^ "David Grossman". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Erasmusprijswinnaars". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
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