The Sonning Prize ( da, Sonningprisen) is a Danish culture prize awarded biennially for outstanding contributions to European culture. It is named after the Danish editor and author Carl Johan Sonning (1879–1937), who established the prize by his

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...

. A prize was first awarded in 1950 to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

for furthering Anglo-Danish scientific interests. However, a sequence of annual awards in this name was established in 1959 with the award to Albert Schweitzer followed by Bertrand Russell in 1960, the criterion being someone who “has accomplished meritorious work for the advancement of European civilization”, and judged by a committee of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. From 1971 it was awarded every second year until 1991, starting again in 1994 till the present. Prize winners are chosen by a committee chaired by the rector of the

which decides on laureates from a selection of candidates proposed by European universities. The prize amounts to DKK 1 million (~

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

135,000) and the award ceremony is always held on or around 19 April (Sonning's birthday) in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

Sonning Prize laureates

References

External links

Sonning Prize at the University of Copenhagen
{{Philosophy awards Awards established in 1950 Danish awards 1950 establishments in Denmark Awards for contributions to culture

Sonning Prize laureates

See also

References

External links