Erasmus Prize

Erasmus Prize
Awarded for	Notable contributions to European culture, society, or social science
Country	Netherlands
Reward(s)	€150,000 [1]
First award	1958
Final award	Annual award [1]
Website	http://www.erasmusprijs.org/

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 ^[update] , 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 ^[update] ). 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 ^[update] 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 : La Marionettistica of the Napoli brothers Ţăndărică of Margareta Niculescu Théâtre de papier of Yves Joly Bread and Puppet of Peter Schumann
	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."
	2025	Donna Haraway [16]	"The theme of this year’s prize is “the pursuit of what binds us.” Haraway is an altruistic thinker who explores the many interconnections between biology, literature, art, and social and political engagement. Like Erasmus in The Praise of Folly, she challenges human thought patterns and behaviors that go against humanistic ideals like equality and openness. What sets Haraway apart is that she extends her thinking beyond humans to include all living beings."

See also

• List of awards for contributions to culture
• List of awards for contributions to society

References

1. "over Erasmusprijs" (in Dutch). Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 July 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
2. "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. "Organisation". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
5. "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.
16. "Donna Haraway". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation.

External links

• Official website