Sonning Prize

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Sonning Prize

The Sonning Prize is awarded biennially for outstanding contributions to European culture. A committee headed by the rector of the University of CopenhagenUniversity of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Copenhagen, Denmark....
decides among candidates proposed by European universities. The prize amounts to 1 mio DKKDanish krone Summary

The Danish krone is the currency used in Denmark including the autonomous province of Greenland....
(~135,000 €Euro

The euro is the official currency of the European Union member states of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece...
). The prize award ceremony is held on April 19 (Sonning's birthday) at the University of CopenhagenUniversity of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Copenhagen, Denmark....
. The prize was established by will of the DanishDenmark

The Kingdom of Denmark is the smallest and southernmost of the Nordic countries....
editor and author Carl Johan Sonning. It was first awarded in 1950 (extraordinarily) and subsequently every second year from 1959.

Sonning Prize laureates

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2006 Ágnes HellerÁgnes Heller Overview

?gnes Heller was one of the world?s foremost Marxist philosophers, before moving to a liberal, social-democratic position l...
, philosophy
2004 Mona HatoumMona Hatoum Summary

Mona Hatoum is a performance artist of Palestinian origin who moved to London in 1975....
, creative arts
2002 Mary RobinsonMary Robinson

Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissione...
, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
2000 Eugenio BarbaEugenio Barba Summary

Eugenio Barba is an Italian author and authority on theatre....
, theatre
1998 Jørn UtzonJørn Utzon

Jrn Utzon is a Danish architect best known for his groundbreaking design for the Sydney Opera House....
, architecture
1996 Günter GrassGünter Grass

Gnter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author,...
, author
1994 Krzysztof KieslowskiKrzysztof Kieslowski

Krzysztof Kieslowski was an influential Oscar-nominated Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for his...
, film
1991 Václav HavelVáclav Havel Summary

Vclav Havel, GCB, CC, is a Czech writer and dramatist....
, author and statesman
1989 Ingmar BergmanIngmar Bergman

Ernst Ingmar Bergman is a Swedish stage and film director who is one of the key film auteurs of the second half of the twe...
, theatre and film
1987 Jürgen HabermasJürgen Habermas

Jrgen Habermas is a German philosopher and sociologist in the tradition of critical theory and American pragmatism, best kn...
, philosophy
1985 William HeinesenWilliam Heinesen

Andreas William Heinesen is the most famous writer from the Faroe Islands....
, author
1983 Simone de BeauvoirSimone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was a French author and philosopher....
, author
1981 Dario FoDario Fo

Dario Fo is an Italian satirist playwright, theater director and actor, and composer....
, theatre
1979 Hermann GmeinerHermann Gmeiner

Hermann Gmeiner was born to a big family of farmers in Vorarlberg on 23 June 1919....
, founder of the SOS Children's VillagesSOS Children's Villages Summary

SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental international development organisation which has been working to...
1977 Arne NæssArne Næss

Arne Dekke Eide Nss is widely regarded as the foremost Norwegian philosopher of the 20th century, and is the founder of deep...
, philosophy
1975 Hannah ArendtHannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt was a German political theorist....
, politology
1973 Karl PopperKarl Popper

Sir Karl Raimund Popper, CH, MA, Ph.D., D.LITT, FBA, FRS , was an Austrian and British philosopher and a professor at the Lo...
, philosophy
1971 Danilo DolciDanilo Dolci

Danilo Dolci was a social activist, sociologist, popular educator and poet....
, social worker
1970 Max Tau, author
1969 Halldór LaxnessHalldór Laxness

Halldr Kiljan Laxness was a 20th century Icelandic author of such novels as Independent People, The Atom Station,...
, author
1968 Arthur KoestlerArthur Koestler

Arthur Koestler was a Hungarian polymath who became a naturalized British subject....
, author
1967 Willem A. Visser't HooftWillem Visser 't Hooft Summary

Willem Adolph Visser 't Hooft was a Dutch theologian who became the first secretary general of the World Council of Churche...
, theology
1966 Sir Laurence Olivier, actor
1965 Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-KalergiRichard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi

Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, was an Austrian politician and geopolitician....
, author and statesman
1964 Dominique PireDominique Pire

Dominique Pire was a Belgian Dominican monk whose work helping refugees in post-World War II Europe saw him receive the No...
, theology
1963 Karl BarthKarl Barth

Karl Barth was an influential Swiss Reformed Christian theologian....
, theology
1962 Alvar AaltoAlvar Aalto

Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer....
, architecture
1961 Niels BohrNiels Bohr

Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechan...
, physics
1960 Bertrand RussellBertrand Russell Overview

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS , was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician, working...
, philosophy
1959 Albert SchweitzerAlbert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer, M.D., OM, was a German Alsatian theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician....
, philosophy
1950 Sir Winston Churchill, author and statesman

Sonning Prize

Sonning Prize laureates

See also