Arts

09 Sep 09

Professor Terence Cave has been awarded an International Balzan Prize.

Professor Terence Cave, an Emeritus fellow at St John’s College, Oxford, has been awarded a prestigious international award for his research on 'literature since 1500'.

He has been awarded the International Balzan Prize for ‘his fundamental contributions to renaissance literature and how it was written’ and ‘for his demonstration of the much neglected concept of anagnorisis (recognition) in Aristotelian poetics as appropriate for illuminating essential moments in the history and theory of modern drama, and, much later, of the novel’.

Professor Cave will be presented with his prize in November at the Federal Palace in Berne. He will receive $940,000, half of which must be destined to research.

Professor Cave, who has devoted most of his career to the study of early modern French literature and thought, said: 'This is an extraordinary honour, which came absolutely out of the blue. I am of course deeply grateful to the Balzan Committee, but also to institutions – above all Oxford – that have supported me throughout my career and made this possible. I hope that the funds associated with the prize will enable me in particular to motivate younger scholars to break new ground in their research.'

Dr Michael Hawcroft, Chairman of the Sub-Faculty of French at Oxford University, said: 'For four decades, Terence Cave has added lustre to the teaching and research activities of the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages. He has published a succession of ground-breakingly original works on Renaissance literature and poetics and trained several generations of scholars now working in universities worldwide. The award of the International Balzan Prize is a fitting tribute to a lifetime's scholarly achievement and his colleagues in the Sub-Faculty of French rejoice in his success and recognition.'

The prize is one of four awarded each year by the International Balzan Foundation. Every year, the four Balzan Prizes are awarded to scholars, scientists or artists who are distinguished in their fields on an international level.

The aim of the Balzan prizes is to foster culture, the sciences and the most outstanding humanitarian initiatives of peace and brotherhood among peoples, regardless of nationality, race or creed.

The Balzan Prizes are assigned by the General Prize Committee, which is comprised of 20 members of the most prestigious learned societies from all over Europe. The subject areas for the awards change each year.

The last time an Oxford academic received this honour was Martin West in 2000.