Emotive 2007 Prince of Asturias Awards Presentation Ceremony
The event was held on Friday 26th October at Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo.
The Prince of Asturias Awards were presented last 26th October at the Campoamor Theatre in a solemn and magnificent award presentation ceremony presided over by T.R.H. Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Asturias, and in the presence of H.M. Queen Sofía. The Asturian capital became the centre of attention worldwide once again with its streets bursting with people wairing to welcome this year's laureates. Al Gore, Lady Christiane Dahrendorf -on behalf of her husband, the laureate Ralf Dahrendorf-, Ginés Morata and Peter Lawrence, the chairmen of Yad Vashem and a number of Holocaust survivors, directors of the scientific journal Science and Nature, Michael Schumacher and Amos Oz all shared the stage of the Theatre.
Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for Letters Amos Oz, Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for International Cooperation Al Gore and Avner Shalev, chairman of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, who collected the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord on behalf of the organisation he leads, each delivered a speech. Ralf Dahrendorf's wife offered words of gratitude on behalf of her husband, Prince of Asturias Award Laureate for Social Sciences.
In one of the most emotive moments in the history of the Prince of Asturias Awards, the chairmen of the Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, together with a delegation of survivors and Righteous Among the Nations -those who helped save Jews from certain death-, saluted the audience and remained standing in a full minute of silence in memory of those who perished during the Holocaust.
H.R.H. the Prince of Asturias added the finishing touch to the ceremony with his speech and called for a new edition of these Awards that bear the title of the Heir of the Kingdom of Spain. In his speech, Prince Felipe praised the career of the laureates and reminded those present of what this Foundation pursues with its Awards. Quoting José Hierro, 1981 Prince of Asturias Awards Laureate for Letters, the Prince summarized the basic ideals of the awards: "Of what service are our lives, if they do not enrich the lives of others". In the Prince's own words, this way of thinking inspires the work of the Foundation, to "awaken in other human beings the knowledge and dreams that go further than ours and to induce in others appreciation for what we love".
Prince Felipe, recalled the first commencement of the Prince of Asturias Foundation, "an institution that came into being three decades ago, inspired by the hope experienced in Spain regarding its recently approved Constitution; which was ratified by a vast majority of fellow countrymen and women as the basis for our political order and a wise guidebook for our coexistence".
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