The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : A Lifetime of Achievement

On Nov. 5, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, announced the awarding of the first John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Human Sciences to Leszek Kolakowski. Professor Kolakowski, who resides in Oxford, England, was born in Radom, Poland, in 1927, is a philosopher focused on important questions, a historian of human thought, an essayist of enormous range and an outstanding spokesman for, and exemplar of, European culture.

Leszek Kolakowski, winner of the first John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities and Social Sciences

John W. Kluge (left), Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, and Leszek Kolakowski, upon Kolakowski's receipt of the first Kluge Prize, Nov. 5, 2004.

The Kluge Prize of $1 million dollars is given for lifetime achievement in the humanities and social sciences -- areas of scholarship for which there are no Nobel Prizes. These disciplines include philosophy, history, political science, anthropology, sociology, religion, linguistics and criticism in the arts and literature. Nominators for the prize were asked to recommend preeminent scholars in any of these or other closely related fields whose work was recognized as outstanding by their peers, they and also spoke to people in other fields and in public life.

Through the generosity of John W. Kluge, founding chairman of the James Madison Council, the Library's private sector advisory body, the Library offers this recurring major award for lifetime achievement in the humanities and social sciences.

The prize is administered through the Librarys John W. Kluge Center. The Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is an ideal place to foster a mutually enriching relationship between scholars and political leaders. The Kluge Center presents a new opportunity to attract to Washington the best available minds in the scholarly world, facilitate their access to the Library's remarkable collection of the world's knowledge, and engage them in conversation with the U.S. Congress and other public figures.

Scholars from across the country and around the world come to the Library of Congress to mine its incomparable resources. The Kluge Center encourages these endeavors and sponsors numerous programs that explore the diversity of scholarship conducted at the Library. The News and Events section of the centers Web site describes programs as far ranging as those dedicated to Zoroastrian culture or China in Transition. Even if you were unable to attend these programs, you can still take part in them virtually by accessing their Web casts. Programs available in this format are indicated on the News and Events page. Other Webcasts are available from the CyberLC page. Here, you can even view the Nov. 5 Kluge Prize event.

A. Leszek Kolakowski, winner of the first John W. Kluge Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities and Social Sciences. John W. Kluge Center Web site

B. John Harrington, photographer. John W. Kluge (left), Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, and Leszek Kolakowski, upon Kolakowski's receipt of the first Kluge Prize, Nov. 5, 2004.