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Unanimously chosen by a panel of five judges, Peter Frankopan has won the €20,000 Calliope Prize, awarded biennially by the German Emigration Centre for practical research into migration.

The jury commented that “Frankopan’s research on global history, embodied in his work The Silk Roads, breaks with the Eurocentric perspective and explores new perspectives on historical and current world events. He uses a language that is easy to understand, which makes scientific results accessible to non-academic readers and helps to better understand the complexity of the world. In his work, Frankopan shows that the success of vibrant societies in history was often based on tolerance, inclusivity and openness.”

Peter said: “I am delighted to be chosen as the winner of the Calliope Prize. I have always been interested in how language helps facilitate exchange, as well as overcoming boundaries. So as well as being honoured by the recognition for my past work, I am excited by the prospect of gathering empirical data and evidence not only about how to measure the openness of societies, but see if and how the conclusions might have practical applications in the future.” The practice-oriented project that Peter will carry out with scientists from the GEC is a study that investigates the connection between multilingualism and an open view of the world.

The prize itself will be presented on Saturday, 23 November 2019, in an award ceremony hosted by German televison presenter and journalist, Astrid Frohloff.