Hans Magnus Enzensberger Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities 2002

The Jury for the Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities 2002, convened in Oviedo, comprising Dª. Adela Cortina, D. Alejandro Echevarría, D. Javier Gómez Cuesta, D. Javier González Ferrari, D. Miguel Ángel Gozalo, D. Juan Luis Iglesias Prada, D. Juan Kindelán Jaquotot, D. Manuel Lombardero, Dª. Catalina Luca de Tena, D. Hans Meinke, D. Jaime Montalvo Correa, Dª. Beatriz de Moura, D. Pedro Páramo, D. Ernesto Sáenz de Buruaga, D. Ricardo Senabre, D. Jesús de la Serna, D. Enrique Ybarra, chaired by D. Manuel Olivencia and with D. Román Suárez Blanco as secretary, have unanimously decided to grant the Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities 2002 to Hans Magnus Enzensberger

The Jury took into particular consideration the depth and extraordinary variety of a work that includes poetry, the essay, philosophical and scientific thought, drama, journalism, political reflection and the novel. Such genres manifest and reflect an open, frank cosmopolitanism, a marked intellectual honesty, an enormous concern for social issues and outstanding ethical content, and are an invaluable contribution to contemporary debate, for they offer an acute critical analysis of the major issues affecting modern-day society, the corruption born of totalitarian power, societal dishonesty, or the collapse of utopias.

The Jury also values the author´s links with Hispanic culture.

Such are the hallmarks of Hans Magnus Enzensberger, an exemplary figure of modern humanism.

Oviedo, 15th May 2002