South African comedian Trevor Noah receives Erasmus Prize 15:05 in Binnenland , Cultuur & Media Noah is an influential media personality in the United States and, in addition to being a comedian, is also a presenter and author.

This year’s Erasmus Prize goes to South African comedian Trevor Noah. According to the jury of the Dutch Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, Noah “acts in an Erasmian spirit with his enormous talent for mocking, linguistic and connecting political humor”.

According to the foundation, the comedian thus contributes to the theme ‘Praise of Folly’, named after Erasmus’ most famous book. Noah is an influential media personality in the United States. Besides being a comedian, he is also a television presenter, political commentator, philanthropist and author.

For years, Noah hosted The Daily Show, a satirical American news program. At the end of last year he stopped as a presenter.

It is the 65th time that the prize has been awarded. The prize of 150,000 euros annually goes to someone or something who has made an outstanding contribution to the humanities and the arts in Europe and beyond. The prize is presented by King Willem-Alexander, regent of the foundation.

Previous winners include the Israeli author David Grossman, the British artist Grayson Perry, the American composer and conductor John Adams and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.