Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award

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The Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award is given annually to people who have dedicated their lives to public service. It was established in 2000 by the Prague Society for International Cooperation and the Global Panel Foundation and is named in honor of the Prague Society's President Marc S. Ellenbogen's mother. The award comes with a 150,000 crown cash prize, which the award recipient passes on to a young person who is embarking on his/her career who has already contributed to the development of international relations. For instance when the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra won the award in 2000 the cash prize was given to Lukas Vondracek, an aspiring musician at the time, to support him in his studies.

Award recipients

First - Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Conducting Corp of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy (the Chief Conductor), Vladimir Valek (the permanent conductor), Sir Charles Mackerras and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi (the principal guest conductors). Askenazy devoted his first years as a musician to the piano. After winning first prizes in Brussels in 1956 and Moscow in 1962, he spent three decades touring the great musical centers of the world. From the 1970s, he became increasingly active as a conductor and held positions with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. From 1998 to 2003 Ashkenazy led the Conducting Corps of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he undertook the major Prokofiev-Shostakovich series in 2003. Vladimir Valek has performed in many major cities around the world like Brussels, Cairo, Copenhagen, London, New York, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and Vienna to name a few. Sir Charles Mackerras (in memoriam), born in Australia, had a passion for music his entire life and was honered with may awards throughout his life. Kobayashi was the first Asian Conductor to conduct at the Prague Spring Music Festival in 2002.

Financial Part Donated to Lukas Vondracek

Born in the Czech Republic in 1986 Lukas Vondracek’s musical ability was spotted at the age of two by his mother, herself a professional pianist. He gave his first concert at the age of 4 and now, by the age of 20, he visited 22 different countries giving in excess of 850 concerts. Vladimir Ashkenazy was the conductor when Lukas made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2002 with concerts in Prague and Italy. Since then he has appeared frequently with the orchestra, including a major USA tour, and concerts in Cologne, Vienna, Lucerne, Bad Kissingen, and Birmingham's Symphony Hall.

Second - Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. She was the first woman Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the US government. As Secretary, Albright reinforced America’s alliances, advocated democracy and human rights, and promoted American trade and business abroad. Serving as a member of the President’s Cabinet & National Security Council for 8 years, Albright was the US Permanent Representative to the UN from 1993 to 1997. Albright is the first Michael & Virginia Mortara Endowed Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. She is the Chairman of The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and founder of the Albright Group, a global strategy firm delivering solutions and advice for businesses in a rapidly changing world.

Financial Part Donated to Petra Prochazkova

Madeline Albright donated financial part to Petra Procházková, a Czech journalist and humanitarian worker. She is best known as a war correspondent to the conflict areas of the former Soviet Union. Procházková studied journalism at Charles University in Prague. In 1989 she started work at the newspaper Lidové noviny. In 1992 she became Lidové noviny's Moscow correspondent. Here she began covering conflict areas - Abkhazia being the first. During the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 she was the only journalist that stayed in the besieged Russian White House. In 1994, together with fellow journalist Jaromír Štětina, Procházková founded the independent journalism agency Epicentrum dedicated to war reporting. In the following years she covered events in Chechnya, Abkhazia, Ossetia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nagorny Karabakh, Kurdistan, Kashmir and East Timor.

Third - Václav Havel

Václav Havel grew up in a circle which maintained Czechoslovakia’s independent culture in defiance of the Communist regime of the time. Excluded from higher education, he made his name in the 1960s with satirical plays which contributed to the intellectual atmosphere of the Prague Spring. During the normalisation period which followed the Soviet invasion he took menial jobs whilst his work was published in samizdat. He was one of the first three spokesmen for Charter 77, and a member of the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted. He was sentenced to four and a half years hard labour, resulting in a breakdown in his health. After his release in 1983 he continued to be a leading member of the opposition movement which culminated in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. He was elected the first President of a free Czechoslovakia and subsequently of the Czech Republic.

Financial Part Donated to Andrey Dynko

Václav Havel donated the financial part to Andrej Dyńko, the editor-in-chief of the indepependent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva. Openly critical to President Lukashenko’s regime, and the only major newspaper written in Belarusian, Nasha Niva has become an important symbol of freedom and independence. Dynko is a Graduate from Minsk State Linguistic University, and holds an MA in International Relations. Until August 2000, he also taught at his Alma Mater. From 2002, Dynko has been the Vice-President of the Belarusian PEN Center.

Fourth - Lord Robertson of Port Ellen

Lord Robertson, born on the Isle of Islay in Scotland, was elected to the House of Commons in 1978. After the Labour Party won the elections in 1997, Prime Minister Blair appointed him as the Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom. In August 1999 he was selected as the tenth Secretary General of NATO, and the same month received a life peerage, taking the title Lord Robertson of Port Ellen. For 7 years he was on the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) where he now serves as Joint President. He has been awarded the Grand Cross of the German Order of Merit and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania and was named joint Parliamentarian of the Year in 1993 for his role during the Maastricht Treaty ratification. He was appointed a member of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council in May 1997.

Financial Part Donated to David Hodan

Lord Robertson donated the financial part to David Hodan, who first met Lord Robertson in May 2003. Encouraged by Ms Bela Gran Jensen, founder of the “Centipede” movement, he wrote an essay named “What I would do if I were General Secretary of NATO”. Lord Robertson read the essay and asked to meet David, saying that he especially liked the quotation from Charlie Chaplin which David used in the essay: “I am interested in my future because that is where I am going to spend the rest of my life.” The meeting took place within sight of Prague Castle – which David likes to call his “future seat”. A student at the Terezie Brzková 33-35 school in Pilsen (of which Marc Ellenbogen is a Patron), his ambition is one day to become President of this country. As he says himself, he is an “ordinary boy” with the interests of a boy of his age – he reads a lot and works with computers, but he also has a special interest in current world events, politics and medicine. He is particularly concerned about parts of the world where children suffer as a result of military conflict. David is a boy with the courage to say what he thinks, and to have dreams which may come true.

Fifth - Miloš Forman

Miloš Forman, born in Čáslav outside Prague, he lost both his parents in the Nazi death camps. After studying in Prague he made his first feature film in 1963: Black Peter, an autobiographical account of a teenager in a small Czech town. He gained international recognition with Loves of a Blonde. Despite this, his next film, The Firemen's Ball, attracted the attention of the Communist authorities and was banned. After the Soviet invasion of 1968, Forman settled in America, winning international fame with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It swept the Academy Awards, winning all five major Oscars. From his earliest Czechoslovakian work through his American period to Goya's Ghosts, Forman’s directing remains close to the reality of life; its absurdity and transforming joys.

Financial Part Donated to Martin Palouš

Financial part divided into three parts of 50,000 crowns each to provide scholarships for students of the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek. The first recipient was the 27-year-old student of film, Martin Palouš, who received the Award from Marc Ellenbogen on 11 October 2007 at the celebratory opening of the Písek Film Festival.

Sixth - Romania's King Michael

His Majesty King Michael I of Romania(born 1922) is a Prince of the Hohenzollern family and a descendant of the first King of Romania, Ferdinand I. He has twice been Head of State in Romania: from 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 to 1947, when he was deposed by the Communists, stripped of his citizenship, and banished from the country. Over the next fifty-five years he worked as a mechanic, commercial pilot and businessman and, with his wife Queen Anne, Princess of Bourbon-Parma, brought up their five daughters. In 1997 he said in an interview: "The King is head of state but he is also the first servant of the people. Never forget that."

Financial Part Donated to Petrisor Ostafie

A student of Medical Bio-engineering in Iasi, Petrisor Ostafie is an example of someone who, on receiving something, returns more than was given. He proved this by being first a volunteer and then a member of the Board of the Alaturi de Voi (Close to You) Romania Foundation. In addition, he exudes in speaking on numerous occasions about what it means to live with HIV and has become an example for many young people in the same situation. Petrisor has spent over 4000 hours of voluntary work on programs developed by the Alaturi de Voi Romania Foundation and has brought hope to over 200 young people living with HIV.

Seventh - Alexander Milinkevich

7th: Alexander Millinkevich became involved in the local politics of his home city, Hrodna, in the 1980s. Four years in Algiers setting up the Faculty of Physics at Sétif University, had given him a wider experience of the world than his contemporaries. After the fall of the Soviet Union he entered national politics, becoming Chief of Staff to one of the opposition leaders. In 2005 he was chosen by the United Democratic Forces of Belarus as joint candidate of the opposition in the presidential ellections of 2006, to stand against the totalitarian Alexander Lukashenko. He was held by the police before and after the elections on false Charles of drunken driving, forgery, drug trafficking and leaving Belarus illegally.

Financial Part Donated to Pavel Sieviarynets

Pavel Sieviarynets is a prominent young Belarusain politician leader of the Christian Democratic Party and founder of the Young Front that is the most persecuted political organisation in Belarus. He is also a talented publicist, author of a number of books and articles in which he presents his ideas and values, calling Belarusians to a national awakening and protest against autocratic rule.

Eighth - In honor of Desmond Mullan

In honor of Desmond Mullan (in memoriam). Mullan, managing director of Volvo Auto Czech 2000-2006, was one of the Prague Society’s main supporters. He was involved in many fields during his time in the Czech Republic: Vice-Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce, he was also well known for his support of the International School of Prague, and an active member of the congregation of the Roman Catholic Church of St Thomas in Mala Strana. Hundreds of friends attended his funeral in St Thomas’s. For his warm heart, generosity, and for all the good deeds he and his wife Helen did while they lived in Prague, the Prague Society had the honor to make him a special recipient of the HRE Citizenship Award in memoriam. This was a special award with no secondary nominee.

Ninth - The 14th Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is both the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet. In 1950 the Dalai Lama was called upon to assume full political power after China's invasion of Tibet in 1949. In 1954, he went to Beijing for peace talks with Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai. Since the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama has appealed to the United Nations on the question of Tibet. The General Assembly adopted three resolutions on Tibet in 1959, 1961 and 1965. In September 1987 the Dalai Lama proposed the Five Point Peace Plan for Tibet as the first step towards a peaceful solution to the worsening situation in Tibet. In 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent struggle for the liberation of Tibet. He has consistently advocated policies of non-violence, even in the face of extreme aggression. He also became the first Nobel Laureate to be recognized for his concern for global environmental problems.

Financial Part Donated to Dobrý Anjel

The 14th Dalai Lama donated the financial part to the Slovak charity “Dobrý anjel” (Good Angel) which helps families of children that suffer from cancer or other insidious diseases such as: cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, chronic renal failure, muscular dystrophy or down syndrome. Donations are made to families based on financial need.

Tenth - Adam Michnik

Adam Michnik is the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest daily in Poland and the first independent news daily after Communism. A historian and co-founder of KOR (Committee for the Defense of Workers) 1976, he was detained many times during 1965-1980 and was a prominent Solidarity activist during the 80s, and spent a total of six years in Polish prisons for activities opposing the communist regime. Member of the Round Table Talks in 1989; member of the first non-communist parliament 1989-1991. He is the Laureat of many prizes and titles: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award; The Erasmus Prize; The Francisco Cerecedo Journalist Prize as a first non-Spanish author; Grand Prince Giedymin Order; Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur; recipient of a doctorate honoris causa from The New School for Social Research in New York, from the University of Minnesota, University of Michigan and from Connecticut College; honorary senator of the University of Ljubljana; and honorary professor of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy.

Michnik presented the financial portion of the award to two young journalists at the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Juliusz Kurkiewicz and Aleksandra Klich-Siewiorek.

Eleventh - Wesley Clark, Jiří Dienstbier and Andrés Pastrana

Wesley Clark served the United States with honor for 34 years. He was the Supreme Allied Commander of Nato (SACEUR) and a US presidential candidate in 2004. Almost immediately after becoming SACEUR Clark started pushing for NATO membership for Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. He became the first NATO commander to visit Prague after the fall of Communism. His legacy in the region is marked by these efforts and Kosovo.

As one of Czechoslovakia's most respected foreign correspondents, Jiří Dienstbier lost his job after the end of Prague Spring and had menial jobs for the following two decades. During this time he became a signatory of Charta 77, helped to restart Lidové Noviny, one of the country's major newspapers. Later he reemerged with the Velvet Revolution, becoming the first Foreign Minister of post-Communist Czechoslovakia in 1989.

Dienstbier became a hero to millions when, together with then German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Austrian Foreign Minister Alois Mock, he cut the "iron curtain." The images spread across the world.

As a politician he played a pre-eminent role in shaping post-Communist foreign policy in a democratic Czechoslovakia between 1989 and 1993 and from Central Europe to Asia to the Middle East. When the Czech Republic and Slovakia separated as states, he played a leading role as a commentator and thoughtful rebel. Finally he entered politics again in the 21st century as a Senator and Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Andrés Pastrana was President of Colombia from 1998-2002. As a lawyer and journalist, Pastrana had been dedicated to fighting corruption and the Colombian drug trade that lies at the root of his country's civil conflict already before he became president. As President he was determined to solve the armed conflict - through negotiation rather than force. While Colombia has not found peace to this day, its army found itself in a much better position to face the major guerrilla organizations after Pastrana's term. During his administration Colombia regained the support of the international community that previously had turned its back on it and the country gained economic support and military aid. At the same time he left Colombia's guerrilla organizations politically undermined with Colombians regarding them as terrorists rather than freedom fighters.

The financial part of Jiří Dienstbier's award was donated to fund the design and publishing of a new book, „Jiří Dienstbier – rozhlasový zpravodaj.“ The recipients of two remaining donations will be announced at a separate event in May.

Twelfth- Věra Čáslavská and Iva Drápalová

Věra Čáslavská won seven Olympic gold medals before she was forced into retirement and for many years was denied the right to travel, work and attend sporting events following her protest against the Soviet-led occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. A signatory of The Two Thousand Words manifesto, Čáslavská was known for her outspoken support of the Czechoslovak democratization movement. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City she quietly looked down and away while the Soviet national anthem was played during medal ceremonies. Her subtle but highly public and widely understood protest resulted in her becoming a persona non grata in the new regime.

Iva Drápalová refused to cooperate with the StB, the Communist secret police, even when she and her family were threatened. In 1968 she started working for the Associated Press bureau in Prague when, following the crushing of the Prague Spring, nobody else wanted the job. Initially she only agreed to help out as a translator for one week. Two year's later she had become AP's Prague correspondent. After she retired in 1988 she was a translator at Velvet Revolution press conferences and later she worked as a consultant for the L.A. Times.

Thirteenth- Tony Fitzjohn and Souad Mekhennet

Tony Fitzjohn is a legendary conservationist who worked extensively with George Adamson of Born Free fame and who currently runs a successful sanctuary for rhinos and African wild dogs in Mkomazi National Park in Tanzania. Tony left for Africa in his early twenties and immediately fell in love with the continent. He spent 18 years in Kora in northern Kenya releasing lions and other big cats back into the wild. In the late 1980s he was invited by Tanzanian government to help to establish new national park in the area that was Mkomazi game reserve then. He led the building of the infrastructure and later established and stocked the first successful rhinoceros sanctuary in Tanzania for which he devel oped dedicated anti-poaching units. As he emphasizes close cooperation with neighbouring communities, he developed special programmes that allow local children and students to visit Mkomazi National Park and a rhino sanctuary. Also, he has been providing local communities with clean water supply, dispensary and Flying Doctor service as well as he completed construction of a new secondary school for 400 children. Tony was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for his successful field work.

Souad Mekhennet was born in Germany as the daughter of a Turkish mother and a Moroccan father. She studied international relations, political sciences, sociology, psychology, and history at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. She also attended the Henri-Nannen school of journalism in Hamburg and took classes at the City University of New York - School of Journalism. That led to her career as a reporter for the Washington Post Newspaper, German TV channel ZDF, and Daily Best. Since shortly after September 11th, she has been reporting about radical Islamic movements.Her articles tell stories of hope, fear and the real life of Muslims throughout the world as Muslim countries undergo dramatic and traumatic changes. Currently she is a moderator and public speaker and works for the Washington Post Newspaper and German TV channel ZDF and has herself been interviewed for various TV and radio shows in the US and Europe. She is also a visiting fellow at the Weatherhead Centre at Harvard University, and at the School for Advanced and International Studies (SAIS) at the John Hopkins University.

Fourteenth- Magda Vášáryová and Zdeněk Tůma

Magda Vášáryová born the 26th of August, is known for being a Slovak actress and the first Magdaléna Vášáryová - female presidential candidate in Slovakia. In 1971 she completed her studies at Comenius Univeres, including Slovak National sity in Bratislava. Then, until 1989, she acted in several theaters including Slovak National Theatre and in numerous movies. She was the ambassador of Czechoslovakia in Austria (1990– 1993) and ambassador of Slovakia in Poland (2000–2005). She is widely known for being the first female candidate in the 1999 presidential election of Slovakia. From February 2005 to July 2006 she also held the position of State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia. In the 2006 parliamentary elections, she was elected to the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party.

Zdeněk Tůma (born in České Budějovice, 1960) graduated from University of Economics, Prague, later on he finished his postgraduated studies at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciencies. He worked as the chief economist in Patria Finance, investment bank, in the nineties, in 1998 he moved to the Europiamn Bank for Reconstruction and Development where he became a member of the Executive Board. At beginning of 1999, Zdenek was appointed the vice-governor of the Czech National Bank, and in December 2000 the governor; in this position he represented the CNB or the Cezch Republic in European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Bank for International Settlement. He held this position till 2010. He has been a partner in KPMG Czech Republic since then, focusing on consulting in the financial sector and leisure activities. He has been an external member of the Institute of Economic Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, where he lectures on monetary policy and financial regulation. He is also a member of Scientific Boards of Czech Technical University(CVUT) and University of South Bohemia, Statutory Boards of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague,University of Economics in Prague, and CERGE-EI Foundation, Board of Governors of English College in Prague, Supervisory Board of Výbor dobré vůle – Foundation of Olga Havlová. He is a member of the Czech Economic Society, of which he was the president in 1999-2001.

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