Nuccio Ordine 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities

Statement by Nuccio Ordine following the conferral of the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.

"It is a great honour for me to receive the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, an award that has a twofold sentimental value. First, because it was received before me by three giants of European culture and three great friends to whom I owe a great deal, namely Umberto Eco, Emilio Lledó and George Steiner; and second, because I have considered Spain and Spanish-speaking America as my second homeland for a decade now. Here I have found many brothers in arms in the battle I am waging to defend schools and universities from the drift towards mercantilism. For these reasons, at a time when those who teach are considered obsolete because modern schools and universities would only be made up of computers and blackboards connected to the Internet, I would like to dedicate this award to those who teach and silently change their students’ lives via their sacrifices. To those who every day –in an African shack or in a poor town in Calabria or Spanish-speaking America– perform a major miracle: that of enabling poor students to make that social and cultural leap that makes our society more just and egalitarian. I take this opportunity to thank Sandra Ollo and Acantilado for having enabled my books to circulate widely in the Spanish-speaking cultural world. I will be very happy to be in Asturias in October to collect the award and visit places rich in both natural beauty and history."

Nuccio Ordine
Paris, 4th May 2023