Subject
Einhard Prize to German edition of Boyd VN Biography
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EDITOR's NOTE. NABOKV-L congratulates Brian Boyd on the prize.
Boyd's Nabokov biography has been
awarded the Einhard Biography Prize (awarded every two years for
biographies
published in Europe) on the basis of the German edition of the first
volume,
Vladimir Nabokov: Die russischen Jahre, 1899-1940 (Rowohlt, 1999). This
is a revised
and expanded version, coming in at 943 pp. (and this is the skimpy
volume!).
The Einhard Prize is called after Einhard or Eginhard (c.770 - 840), a
contemporary of Charlemagne, who lived and worked at the imperial court
in
Aachen as well as in Seligenstadt. (The region around Seligenstadt was
the
fiefdom of Einhard). Among other things, Einhard, who is buried in
Seligenstadt,wrote the first biography of Charlemagne ("Vita Caroli
Magni") which was copied many times during the Middle Ages; several
historians consider that biography as one of the reasons for the still
vast popularity of Charlemagne in Continental Europe. It is assumed,
that the
"Virta Caroli Magni" was actually written in Seligenstadt.
According to our information, the Einhard Prize is the only
international
award for a biography. The only other literature prize for a biography
is
the Pulitzer Prize; to our knowledge, that award is, however, a purely
American matter. Each laureate of the Einhard Prize is chosen by an
international jury. Presently that jury consists of Jean Favier,
Professor
at the Sorbonne in Paris, Professor Roberto Zapperi, Rome, and Dr.
Gustav
Seibt, one of the most prominent German literature critics on the staff
of
"Die Zeit", the leading German weekly. The jury has unanimously chosen
Boyd
as the recipient of the Prize for 2001.
The Einhard Prize is handed to the laureate in Seligenstadt on the day
Einhard died; in 2001 this date will fall on March 17. The Prize is
endowed with DM 20.000.-.
Boyd's Nabokov biography has been
awarded the Einhard Biography Prize (awarded every two years for
biographies
published in Europe) on the basis of the German edition of the first
volume,
Vladimir Nabokov: Die russischen Jahre, 1899-1940 (Rowohlt, 1999). This
is a revised
and expanded version, coming in at 943 pp. (and this is the skimpy
volume!).
The Einhard Prize is called after Einhard or Eginhard (c.770 - 840), a
contemporary of Charlemagne, who lived and worked at the imperial court
in
Aachen as well as in Seligenstadt. (The region around Seligenstadt was
the
fiefdom of Einhard). Among other things, Einhard, who is buried in
Seligenstadt,wrote the first biography of Charlemagne ("Vita Caroli
Magni") which was copied many times during the Middle Ages; several
historians consider that biography as one of the reasons for the still
vast popularity of Charlemagne in Continental Europe. It is assumed,
that the
"Virta Caroli Magni" was actually written in Seligenstadt.
According to our information, the Einhard Prize is the only
international
award for a biography. The only other literature prize for a biography
is
the Pulitzer Prize; to our knowledge, that award is, however, a purely
American matter. Each laureate of the Einhard Prize is chosen by an
international jury. Presently that jury consists of Jean Favier,
Professor
at the Sorbonne in Paris, Professor Roberto Zapperi, Rome, and Dr.
Gustav
Seibt, one of the most prominent German literature critics on the staff
of
"Die Zeit", the leading German weekly. The jury has unanimously chosen
Boyd
as the recipient of the Prize for 2001.
The Einhard Prize is handed to the laureate in Seligenstadt on the day
Einhard died; in 2001 this date will fall on March 17. The Prize is
endowed with DM 20.000.-.