The Chapter of the Professor Bronisław Geremek Prize has named the prizewinners for 2016. The main prize is awarded by the Chapter for an outstanding academic book in the field of European civilization and history. A prize is also awarded annually for an outstanding first academic book in the same field.
The members of the Chapter are Professor Richard BUTTERWICK-PAWLIKOWSKI (Chairman), Prof. Marcin GEREMEK (Vice-Chairman), Prof. Andrzej FRISZKE, Prof. Maria KOCZERSKA, Prof. Wojciech KRIEGSEISEN and Prof. Henryk SAMSONOWICZ. The Chapter makes its independent decision by voting on the basis of reviews written by an international jury of experts of books nominated by leading academic publishers.
On 22 November 2016, the Chapter voted to award this year’s main prize to Professor Konrad H. JARAUSCH for his book Out of Ashes: A New History of Europe in the Twentieth Century, published by Princeton University Press.
Professor JARAUSCH, who graduated and received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin, holds the Lurcy Chair of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The co-founder of the University of North Carolina Center for European Studies, he is the author of many books on German and European history throughout the twentieth century. His recent work includes books on students and politics, German unity, and the problem of reconstructing German history.
The Chapter also voted to award the prize for an outstanding first book to Dr Patrick LANTSCHNER for his book The Logic of Political Conflict in Medieval Cities: Italy and the Southern Low Countries, 1370-1440, published by Oxford University Press.
Dr LANTSCHNER, who obtained his Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Oxford, is Lecturer in the Department of History of University College London. Previously he held a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton College Oxford, and has also taught at the University of Cambridge. His main research is on medieval cities and other systems of political organization, and he is interested in comparative and transnational approaches to Mediterranean history that cross conventional distinctions between Europe and the Islamic world.
This year’s competition was very close. The runners-up were: for the main prize – Professor Andrzej NOWAK, of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, for his book Pierwsza zdrada Zachodu. 1920 – zapomniany appeasement [The West’s first betrayal. 1920 – a forgotten appeasement], published by Wydawnictwo Literackie of Kraków; and for a first academic book – Dr Dorota DUKWICZ of the Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences, for her book Rosja wobec sejmu rozbiorowego warszawskiego (1772-1775) [Russia and the Warsaw partition parliament (1772-1775)], published by the Wydawnictwo Instytutu Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk.
Professor JARAUSCH will deliver a lecture, and Dr LANTSCHNER will give a presentation about the themes of their books during the award ceremony. This will be held at the Natolin campus of the College of Europe in the spring of 2017.
The Prize was initiated and is funded by the College of Europe Natolin Campus and its European Civilization Chair, in cooperation with the Foundation Professor Bronisław Geremek Centre. For information on the 2015 winners click here.