Dutch king to award Trevor Noah the 2023 Erasmus Prize during Amsterdam ceremony

South African comedian Trevor Noah will be named the 2023 recipient of the Erasmus Prize. King Willem-Alexander will present the stand-up comic, television presenter, writer and satirist with the award at a ceremony at the Royal Palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The king's mother, Princess Beatrix, will also be in attendance during the November 28 event, the government's press office announced on Monday.

The prize has been presented annually for 65 years, with a different theme chosen by the Praemium Erasmiandum Foundation every year. Noah is only the second comedian to become the Erasmus Prize laureate. Prince Bernhard previously gave the award to Charlie Chaplin in 1965. The Erasmus Prize is given every year to a person or institution for their lifetime achievement, and "exceptional contribution" to the arts, social sciences and humanities.

The theme for this year's award is, "In Praise of Folly," the same title as an essay that Desiderius Erasmus wrote in 1509. This essay is "filled with humour, social criticism and political satire," the press office noted. "With his talent for sharp, linguistic and inclusive political comedy, the jury found that Mr. Noah upholds the ‘Erasmian Spirit.’"

The jury spoke in high praise of Noah's ability to produce sharply-written satire, reflect on fake news and misinformation, and his observations during the Donald Trump presidency, the coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the murder of George Floyd. "In his autobiography, Born a Crime, Mr. Noah describes how, as a child with a Black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss father during the Apartheid era, he was confronted early on in his life with institutionalised racism and violence. Instead of reacting to injustice with cynicism, Mr. Noah exposes its absurdities, and combats these struggles with the liberating power of laughter," the jury stated.

King Willem-Alexander is the current Patron of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. He awarded last year's prize to Israeli writer David Grossman under the theme, "Mending a Torn World." Willem-Alexander has also handed the prize to British artist Grayson Perry, American composer John Adams, American journalist Barbara Eherenreich, and Canadian sociologist Michèle Lamont. Other recipients during the past decade include author Dame Antonia Byatt, the Wikipedia community, Belgian theater festival director Frie Leysen, and democracy advocate Jürgen Habermas.

The Erasmus Prize comes with a cash sum of 150,000 euros, and a folded ribbon adornment with a titanium plate at both ends. When closed, the adornment has the appearance of a book, but when opened, it stretches into a ribbon with text in Erasmus's handwriting. The ribbon was designed in 1995 by Bruno Ninaber van Eyben.

The text comes from a letter Erasmus wrote in 1523, and says, "diverse are the gifts of men of genius and many are the different kinds of ages. let each one reveal the scope of his competence and let no one be envious of another who in keeping with his own ability and style tries to make a useful contribution to the education of all.”