Helena Vaz da Silva European Award

The Helena Vaz da Silva European Award for Raising Public Awareness of Cultural Heritage was established in 2013 by Europa Nostra and its country representation in Portugal, Centro Nacional de Cultura, in cooperation with the Clube Português de Imprensa.

It is presented annually to a European citizen whose career has been distinguished by activities that disseminate, defend and promote Europe’s cultural heritage, in particular through literary or musical works, news items, articles, chronicles, photographs, cartoons, documentary features, films, and radio and/or television programmes.

The European Award for Raising Public Awareness on Cultural Heritage is named after Helena Vaz da Silva (1939-2002), Portuguese journalist, writer, cultural activist and politician, in memory and recognition of her remarkable contribution to the promotion of cultural heritage and European ideals.

The Award’s Jury is composed of independent experts in the fields of culture, heritage and communication from various European countries.

The previous laureates of this Award are the Italian writer Claudio Magris (2013); the Turkish writer and Nobel Prize laureate Orhan Pamuk (2014); the Spanish musician and conductor Maestro Jordi Savall (2015); the French editorial cartoonist Jean Plantureux, known as Plantu, and the Portuguese philosopher Eduardo Lourenço (ex aequo, 2016); the German film director Wim Wenders (2017); the British historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes (2018); the Italian Physicist Fabiola Gianotti (2019); the Portuguese poet and Librarian of the Vatican Library José Tolentino Mendonça (2020); the Belgian contemporary dance choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker (2021) and the Ukranian conductor Oksana Lyniv (2022).