The International Balzan Prize Foundation’s aim is to promote culture, the sciences, and the most meritorious initiatives in the cause of humanity, peace, and fraternity among peoples throughout the world.
Currently, four annual awards are made: two in literature, moral sciences, and the arts; and two in the physical, mathematical, and natural sciences, and in medicine. In 2001, regulations concerning the prizes were changed, and prize winners must now destine half of their awards for research projects carried out preferably by young humanists and scientists.
At intervals of no less than three years, the Balzan Foundation also awards a prize for Humanity, Peace, and Fraternity among Peoples.
The Balzan Foundation acts jointly through two Foundations: one with headquarters in Milan and the other with headquarters in Zurich. At the “Prize” Foundation in Milan, the General Prize Committee, which is composed of eminent European scholars and scientists, chooses the subject areas of the awards and makes the nominations. The “Fund” Foundation in Zurich administers Eugenio Balzan’s estate.
News, facts, appointments, events, and articles about the Prize, the Prizewinners, and the Foundation.
20 March 2023
15 March, the closing date for submitting nominations for the 2023 Balzan Prize, marks the beginning of the phase leading to the announcement of the Prizewinners on 11 September.
Read more25 November 2022
BALZAN PRESS KIT 2022 (Download 5 docx)
Read more25 November 2022
750,000 Swiss Francs (765,000 EUR, 810,000 USD, 666,000 GBP) for each of the four awards.The winners must allocate half of the amount to research projects.
Read more12 September 2022
Martha C. Nussbaum, Philip Bohlman, Robert Langer, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen and Johannes Oerlemans The amount of each prize is 750,000 Swiss Francs for each subject area. Half of the total amount must be used for projects that involve young researchers.
Read moreThe Balzan Foundation collects essays, scholarly contributions, and dissertations by its Laureates in books and periodical publications. Two series, the Annual Balzan Lecture and the Balzan Papers, are published by Leo S. Olschki of Florence.
17 April 2023
The eleventh volume of the series of the Annual Balzan Lectures published by Olschki
Read more1 September 2021
Multi-disciplinary anthology of the Balzan Foundation, published by Olschki of Florence.
Read more13 May 2019
Beyond Family Farming: Gendering the Collective: the tenth volume of the series
Read more14 December 2019
Providing papers, proceedings from seminars, interviews and in-depth investigations
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Video recordings of major public events organized by the Balzan Foundation
Photo galleries of Balzan Prizewinners from 1961 to the present, taken at awards ceremonies in Rome and Bern.