Italian author wins the 2019 Ivan Franko International Prize

On June 28-29 a jury of the Ivan Franko International Prize met at the Institute of Slavic Studies at the University of Vienna (Austria) to determine the winner.

Maria Gracia Bartolini’s monograph “Know thyself. Neoplatonic sources in the works of H.S. Skovoroda”, Kyiv, 2017, won in the nomination “For significant achievements in the field of Ukrainian studies”.

According to the reviewer of the monograph, Professor of the Institute of Philosophy at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Yevhen Bystrytsky, “Bartolini’s work completes the two-hundred-year history of persistent Ukrainian and international studies on the national features of European sources of Hryhoriy Skovoroda’s philosophical heritage. Based on the experience of predecessors, including L. Ushkalov, the laureate managed to build a coherent and logically ordered understanding of Skovoroda’s philosophy. The first Ukrainian philosopher is portrayed as an original thinker who created a complete image of man and the world, far more rational in its basis than it was seen before. The monograph opens a new stage in understanding the interpretation of Skovoroda’s heritage for Ukraine and the world. ”

None of the nominees got a required number of points determined by the Prize Regulations in the nomination “For significant achievements in the field of social and humanitarian sciences”.

Professor Michael Moser, Chairman of the Jury, said: “All works are worthy, but it was hard to reach an agreement on which of them definitely deserves the prize.”

In the closing remarks, Ihor Kurus, Director of the Ivan Franko International Fund, expressed his admiration for the depth of the scientific discussion, thanked the international jury for their work and congratulated them on the decision of the winner.

It should be noted that the international jury included 12 scholars from the universities of Ukraine, the USA, Austria, Italy, Slovakia and Poland.

The laureate of the Ivan Franko International Prize will receive a monetary award and a golden lapel pin of the laureate. An award ceremony for the winner of the Ivan Franko International Prize will be held on August 27, 2019 at Ivan Franko’s birthplace – the city of Drohobych.

The meeting of the Prize International Jury was organized by the Ivan Franko International Fund with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

We will recall you that the Ivan Franko International Prize was founded by his grandson, Roland Franko, in 2015. The main objective of the Prize is to promote a comprehensive study of Ivan Franko’s creative, scientific, social activities, to encourage scholars from around the world to carry out research in the field of social and humanitarian sciences and Ukrainian studies. The prize is annually awarded on August 27 – Ivan Franko’s birthday. The winners of the Prize are awarded with a monetary prize and a golden lapel pin of the laureate.

Prize winners include: In 2016 – Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop emeritus of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Cardinal of the Catholic Church. In 2017, Michael Moser – professor at the University of Vienna, president of the International Association of Ukrainian Studies – won in the nomination “for significant advances (achievements) in the field of Ukrainian studies”, and in the nomination “for significant advances (achievements) in the field of social and human sciences”, the award was given to Oleh Shabliy – academician and honorary professor of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. In 2018, Yaroslava Melnyk – professor of the Ukrainian Catholic University (Lviv) and Ukrainian Free University (Munich) – became a laureate in the nomination “for significant advances (achievements) in the field of Ukrainian studies”, and in the nomination “for significant advances (achievements) in the field of social and human sciences”, the award was given to Yohannes Remy – assistant professor at Columbia University (USA).



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