Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist
The Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist (until 2016 Marcel Benoist Prize ) is a Swiss science prize.
The prize is awarded annually by the Marcel Benoist Foundation to academics who are established in Switzerland . According to the will of Marcel Benoist (1864–1918), the prize is to go to the scientist who “has made the most useful scientific invention, discovery or study during the year that is particularly important for human life”.
Foundation of the award
Marcel Benoist came from a wealthy Parisian family. He initially became a lawyer, but gave up his activity in 1898 for reasons that were not clear. He is said to have made several trips to Europe and collected art objects. After the death of his father, he led the life of a withdrawn intellectual on the estate he had inherited. Fearing that war would break out between France and Germany, he moved his art collection and his economic activities to Switzerland from 1911. From 1914 to 1918, Benoist spent most of his time in Lausanne . He died of smallpox in Paris on August 10, 1918. In the will of 1914 he transferred his assets to the Swiss Confederation , with the condition that the above-mentioned science award be set up.
The Swiss Federal Council satisfied the legal heirs in France, gave the art collection to the city of Lausanne (which it bought in 1965) for safekeeping, and on November 5, 1920 established the Marcel Benoist Foundation for the promotion of scientific research . The Board of Trustees is chaired by the current head of the Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research (EAER). Furthermore, the French ambassador to Switzerland (or a deputy appointed by him) and a senior federal employee appointed by the EAER from the fields of science policy or public health belong to him ex officio. In addition, the Federal Council appoints a further nine to fifteen members to represent the teaching staff of Swiss universities for a term of office of four years (with the possibility of re-election).
In 2017, a realignment was announced, with a recapitalization of the foundation through private donations, the transfer of the selection process to the Swiss National Science Foundation and the adjustment of the structures.
The prize has been awarded since 1920. This makes it the oldest science award in Switzerland.
Award winners
- 1920: Maurice Arthus (1862–1945), immunologist ( University of Lausanne )
- 1921: Conrad Brunner (1859–1927), surgeon ( University of Zurich )
- 1922: Paul Karrer (1889–1971), chemist (University of Zurich)
- 1923: Albert Heim (1849–1937), geologist (University of Zurich)
- 1924: Heinrich Zangger (1874–1957), toxicologist (University of Zurich)
- 1925: Alfred Gysi (1865–1957), dentist (University of Zurich)
- 1926: Émile Argand (1879–1940), geologist ( University of Neuchâtel )
- 1927: Hermann Sahli (1856–1933), physician ( University of Bern )
- 1928: Jules Gonin (1870–1935), ophthalmologist (University of Lausanne)
- 1929: Paul Niggli (1888–1953), geologist ( ETH Zurich )
- 1930: Aloys Müller (1892–1979), physiologist ( University of Freiburg )
- 1931: Walter R. Hess (1881–1973), neurologist (University of Zurich)
- 1932: Maurice Lugeon (1870–1953), geologist (University of Lausanne)
- 1933: Robert Doerr (1871–1952), virologist ( University of Basel )
- 1934: Max Askanazy (1865–1940), oncologist ( University of Geneva )
- 1935: Jakob Eugster (1891–1974), doctor (University of Zurich)
- 1936: Alfredo Vannotti (1907–2002), medical doctor (University of Lausanne)
- 1937: Charles Dhéré (1876–1955), biochemist (University of Freiburg)
- 1938: Leopold Ruzicka (1887–1976), chemist (ETH Zurich)
- 1939: Fritz Baltzer (1884–1974), biologist (University of Bern)
- 1940: Friedrich T. Wahlen (1899–1985), agronomist ( Federal War Food Office )
- 1941: Hermann Mooser (1891–1971), physician (University of Zurich)
- 1942: Arthur Stoll (1887–1971), chemist ( Sandoz AG )
- 1943: Paul Scherrer (1890–1969), physicist (ETH Zurich)
- 1944: Robert Matthey (1900–1982), biologist (University of Lausanne)
- 1945: Ernst Gäumann (1893–1963), botanist (ETH Zurich)
- 1946: Alexander von Muralt (1903–1990), physiologist (University of Bern)
- 1947: Tadeus Reichstein (1897–1996), chemist (University of Basel)
- 1948: Hans E. Walther (1883–1953), oncologist (University of Zurich)
- 1949: Albert Frey-Wyssling (1900–1988), botanist (ETH Zurich)
- 1950: Emile Guyénot (1885–1963), biologist (University of Geneva)
- 1951: Anton Christian Fonio (1881–1968), hematologist (University of Bern)
- 1952: Otto Gsell (1902–1990), doctor (University of Basel)
- 1953: Alfred Fleisch (1892–1973), physiologist (University of Lausanne)
- 1954: Ernst Hadorn (1902–1976), biologist (University of Zurich)
- 1955: Max Holzmann (1899–1994), cardiologist (University of Zurich)
- 1956: Siegfried Rosin (1913–1976), hematologist (University of Bern)
- 1957: Jakob Seiler (1886–1970), biologist (ETH Zurich)
- 1958: Klaus Clusius (1903–1963), chemist (University of Zurich)
- 1959: Albert Wettstein (1907–1974), chemist ( Ciba AG )
- 1960: Pierre Duchosal (1905–1988), cardiologist (University of Geneva)
- 1961: Werner Kuhn (1899–1963), chemist (University of Basel)
- 1962: Alfred Hässig (1921–1999), hematologist (University of Bern)
- 1963: Gerold Schwarzenbach (1904–1978), chemist (ETH Zurich)
- 1964: Vladimir Prelog (1906–1998), chemist (ETH Zurich)
- 1965: Georges de Rham (1903–1990), mathematician (University of Lausanne)
- 1966: Eduard Kellenberger (1920–2004), biophysicist (University of Geneva), and Alfred Tissières (1917–2003), biochemist (University of Geneva)
- 1967: Kurt Mühlethaler (1919–2002), botanist (ETH Zurich), and Hans J. Moor (1933–2009), botanist (ETH Zurich)
- 1968: Michel Dolivo (1921–2017), neurobiologist (University of Lausanne)
- 1969: Walter Heitler (1904–1981), physicist (University of Zurich)
- 1970: Charles Weissmann (* 1931), biochemist (University of Zurich)
- 1971: Manfred Bleuler (1903–1994), psychiatrist (University of Zurich)
- 1972: Albert Eschenmoser (* 1925), chemist (ETH Zurich)
- 1973: Lucien Girardier (* 1929), physiologist (University of Geneva), and Eric Jéquier (* 1937), physiologist (University of Lausanne), and Georges Spinnler (* 1931), engineer ( ETH Lausanne )
- 1974: Ewald Weibel (1929–2019), anatomist (University of Bern)
- 1975: Gazi Yaşargil (* 1925), surgeon (University of Zurich)
- 1976: Theodor K. Brunner (* 1918), immunologist (University of Lausanne), and Jean Charles Cerottini (* 1938), immunologist (University of Lausanne), and Jean Lindenmann (1924-2015), virologist (University of Zurich)
- 1977: Hans H. Günthard (1916–2006), chemist (ETH Zurich), Edgar Heilbronner (1921–2006), chemist (University of Basel)
- 1978: Niels Kaj Jerne (1911–1994), immunologist ( Basel Institute for Immunology )
- 1979: Michel Cuénod (* 1933), neurobiologist (University of Zurich)
- 1980: Hans Kummer (1930–2013), biologist (University of Zurich)
- 1981: Karl Illmensee (* 1939), biologist (University of Geneva)
- 1982: Franz Fankhauser (1924–2020), ophthalmologist (University of Bern)
- 1983: Hans R. Brunner (* 1937), medical doctor (University of Lausanne)
- 1984: Harald Reuter (* 1934), pharmacologist (University of Bern)
- 1985: Richard R. Ernst (* 1933), chemist (ETH Zurich)
- 1986: Johannes G. Bednorz (* 1950), physicist ( IBM research laboratory ), and Karl Alexander Müller (* 1927), physicist (IBM research laboratory)
- 1987: Maurice E. Müller (1918–2009), surgeon (University of Bern), and Martin Allgöwer (1917–2007), surgeon (University of Basel), and Hans R. Willenegger (1910–1998), surgeon (University of Basel)
- 1988: Ulrich Laemmli (* 1940), biophysicist (University of Geneva)
- 1989: Niklaus Wirth (* 1934), computer scientist (ETH Zurich)
- 1990: Bruno Messerli (1931–2019), geographer (University of Bern), Hans Oeschger (1927–1998), geophysicist (University of Bern), and Werner Stumm (1924–1999), ecologist (ETH Zurich)
- 1991: Duilio Arigoni (1928–2020), biochemist (ETH Zurich), and Kurt Wüthrich (* 1938), biophysicist (ETH Zurich)
- 1992: Gottfried Schatz (1936–2015), biochemist (University of Basel)
- 1993: no prize awarded
- 1994: Martin Schwab (* 1949), neurobiologist (University of Zurich)
- 1995: Henri Isliker (1922–2007), immunologist (University of Lausanne), and Alfred Pletscher (1917–2006), pharmacologist (University of Basel)
- 1996: Bernard Rossier (* 1941), pharmacologist (University of Lausanne)
- 1997: Jürg M. Fröhlich (* 1946), physicist (ETH Zurich)
- 1998: Michel Mayor (* 1942), astronomer (University of Geneva)
- 1999: Jörg Paul Müller (* 1938), lawyer (University of Bern), and Luzius Wildhaber (* 1937), lawyer (University of Basel)
- 2000: Dieter Seebach (* 1937), chemist (ETH Zurich)
- 2001: Ruedi Imbach (* 1946), historian (University of Freiburg)
- 2002: Rüdiger Wehner (* 1940), zoologist (University of Zurich)
- 2003: Denis Duboule (* 1955), biologist (University of Geneva)
- 2004: Adriano Aguzzi (* 1960), neuropathologist (University of Zurich)
- 2005: Othmar Keel (* 1937), religious historian (University of Freiburg)
- 2006: Timothy J. Richmond (* 1948), molecular biologist (ETH Zurich)
- 2007: Ari Helenius (* 1944), biochemist (ETH Zurich)
- 2008: Ernst Fehr (* 1956), economist (University of Zurich)
- 2009: Françoise Gisou van der Goot (* 1964), microbiologist (ETH Lausanne)
- 2010: Daniel Loss (* 1958), physicist (University of Basel)
- 2011: Michele Parrinello (* 1945), physicist (ETH Zurich)
- 2012: Michael N. Hall (* 1953), molecular biologist (University of Basel)
- 2013: Michael Grätzel (* 1944), chemist (ETH Lausanne)
- 2014: Nicolas Gisin (* 1952), physicist (University of Geneva)
- 2015: Laurent Keller (* 1961), evolutionary biologist (University of Lausanne)
- 2016: Johan Auwerx (* 1958), nutrition researcher (ETH Lausanne)
- 2017: Thomas Stocker (* 1959), climate researcher (University of Bern)
- 2018: Lars-Erik Cederman (* 1963), conflict researcher (ETH Zurich)
- 2019: Nicola Spaldin (* 1969), materials scientist (ETH Zurich)
literature
- Martin Stuber, Sabine Kraut: The Marcel Benoist Prize 1920–1995. The history of the Swiss Federal Science Award. Benteli, Bern 1995.
Web links
- Marcel Benoist Foundation website
- Martin Stuber: Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research: Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist realigned. Retrieved November 1, 2017 .
- ↑ Basler physicist wins most important Swiss science award in: Basler Zeitung of October 13, 2010
- ^ "Swiss Nobel Prize" for computer scientists in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of September 2, 2011