Sonning Prize
The Sonning Prize is the most important Danish award for cultural achievements. It was donated by the author and editor CJ Sonning (1879–1937). Every two years, on April 19, the birthday of the eponym, it is awarded by the University of Copenhagen for an important work that enriches European culture. European universities can submit proposals to the award committee chaired by the Rector of the University of Copenhagen. The prize money is one million Danish kroner .
Award winners
- 1950: Winston Churchill , writer and statesman, Great Britain (special award)
- 1959: Albert Schweitzer , theologian, Germany
- 1960: Bertrand Russell , writer, Great Britain
- 1961: Niels Bohr , physicist, Denmark
- 1962: Alvar Aalto , architect, Finland
- 1963: Karl Barth , theologian, Switzerland
- 1964: Dominique Pire , theologian, Belgium
- 1965: Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi , writer and statesman, Austria
- 1966: Laurence Olivier , actor, UK
- 1967: Willem Adolf Visser 't Hooft , theologian, Netherlands
- 1968: Arthur Koestler , writer, Hungary
- 1969: Halldór Laxness , writer, Iceland
- 1970: Max Tau , writer, Germany
- 1971: Danilo Dolci , social worker, Italy
- 1973: Karl Popper , philosopher, Austria
- 1975: Hannah Arendt , political theorist, Germany
- 1977: Arne Næss , writer, Norway
- 1979: Hermann Gmeiner , founder of SOS Children's Villages , Austria
- 1981: Dario Fo , playwright, Italy
- 1983: Simone de Beauvoir , writer, France
- 1985: William Heinesen , writer, Faroe Islands
- 1987: Jürgen Habermas , philosopher, Germany
- 1989: Ingmar Bergman , director, Sweden
- 1991: Václav Havel , writer and statesman, Czech Republic
- 1994: Krzysztof Kieślowski , film director, Poland
- 1996: Günter Grass , writer, Germany
- 1998: Jørn Utzon , architect, Denmark
- 2000: Eugenio Barba , theater luminary and founder of Odin Teatret , Denmark
- 2002: Mary Robinson , UN High Commissioner for Human Rights , Ireland
- 2004: Mona Hatoum , visual artist, Great Britain
- 2006: Ágnes Heller , philosopher, Hungary
- 2008: Renzo Piano , architect, Italy
- 2010: Hans Magnus Enzensberger , writer, Germany
- 2012: Orhan Pamuk , writer, Turkey
- 2014: Michael Haneke , director, Austria
- 2018: Lars von Trier , director and screenwriter, Denmark
See also
Web links
- Sonning price (multilingual)