Penguin Random House | Madrid, 05/21/2024

Princess Of Asturias Award For Social Sciences Goes To Michael Ignatieff

Canadian author, academic and former politician Michael Ignatieff has received the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences for his commitment to fundamental and universal human rights and values. The jury appointed by the Princess of Asturias Foundation conveyed this award to Ignatieff for his comprehensive and diversified career, during which he has been promoting ideas for overcoming ethnic and religious differences and the search for common values in the context of globalization through his books, which are published by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial’s Taurus imprint, as well as articles and television shows. The author describes himself as an internationalist and an advocate of the rule of law, and has decisively contributed to the international consensus on individuals’ rights. The jury explains its decision: “Michael Ignatieff’s oeuvre is an essential reference point for our orientation at a time characterized by armed conflicts, political polarization and threats to freedom. He analyzes specific political problems always on the basis of the normative requirements of democratic systems. The result is an original mix of political realism, humanism and liberal idealism in which the values of freedom, human rights, tolerance and the protection of the institutions are his fundamental concern.” Ignatieff is the author of numerous articles and books; he also wrote theater plays and novels, including “Scar Tissue” (1993), which made it to the final of the Man Booker Prize. He regularly writes for international media such as “The Atlantic” and “Project Syndicate”, has honorary doctorates from 13 universities around the world and has also been honored with the Heinemann Prize of the Royal Society of Literature (UK, 1987), the Orwell Prize (UK, 2001), The Otis Social Justice Award (USA, 2002), the Queen’s Jubilee Medal (Canada, 2012), the Francisco Cerecedo Prize for Journalism (Spain, 2012), and the Dan David Prize (Israel, 2019), among others. Established in 1981, the award was called the Prince of Asturias Award until 2014.

The winners of the award in the category “Communication and Human Sciences” also include Bertelsmann’s post-war founder Reinhard Mohn, who accepted the award in 1998. Following the crowning of Felipe to King of Spain, the foundation and awards were renamed in 2014 and are now named after the new Princess of Asturias and Infanta Leonor of Spain. This year’s Princess of Asturias Awards will be presented as usual in October at a festive gala, which is held by their majesties, the King and Queen of Spain, accompanied by Leonor, Princes of Asturias, and Infant Sofia of Spain. It was recently announced that comic book author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi, published in Spanish and English by Penguin Random House, will be honored with a Princess of Asturias Award in the “Communication and Humanities” category.