Indian economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Kumar Sen won Spain’s top award – Princess of Asturias Award 2021, under the Social Science category. The jury announced the list of 2021 laureates over the virtual platform.
- Amartya Sen won the award for his research on famines and his theory of human development, welfare economics and the underlying mechanisms of poverty have contributed to the fight against injustice, inequality, disease and ignorance.
- The award comprises a Joan Miro sculpture, a diploma, an insignia and a cash prize of 50,000 Euros (around Rs 44.25 lakhs).
German Publishers and Booksellers Association awarded him the 2020 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for his pioneering scholarship addressing issues of global justice and combating social inequality in education and healthcare.
About Amartya Kumar Sen:
i.Amartya Sen is serving as the professor at the Thomas W. Lamont University and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University.
ii.The government of India honoured Amartya Sen with Bharat Ratna in 1999 for his contribution to economics.
iii.He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998.
iv.He was best known for ‘Poverty and Famines. In an Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (1981)’.
About Princess of Asturias Awards:
i.The Princess of Asturias Awards is annually presented by the Princess of Asturias Foundation which recognises the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanitarian work carried out at an international level by individuals, institutions or groups of individuals or institutions.
ii.The award is presented in 8 categories – Arts, Literature, Social Sciences, Communication and Humanities, Technical and Scientific Research, International Cooperation, Concord, and Sports.
iii.The awards are annually presented at a ceremony held at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, Spain.
iv.The awards were first presented in 1981.
2021 Laureates:
i.Marina Abramović of Serbia won the Princess of Asturias Award 2021 for Arts.
ii.Gloria Steinem of Ohio, United States won the Princess of Asturias Award 2021 for Communication and Humanities.
iii.The laureates of the other categories – Sports, Literature, International Cooperation Technical & Scientific Research and Concord are yet to be announced.
