“Ukraine has a right to peace!” - Appeal by the Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the prize’s founder

In view of the Russian president’s declaration of war on Ukraine this morning, the Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the prize’s founder, the Börsenverein Group, issue the following appeal: 

“The Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the prize’s founder are outraged by Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine. We appeal to the Russian people and their president to stop the deliberate destruction of peace and freedom in Europe. And we send words of solidarity to the people of Ukraine: you are part of an international community that supports human dignity, democratic participation, and equality for all. You have a right to peace!" 

The Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, together with Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Frankfurter Buchmesse, MVB, mediacampus frankfurt

Each year, the Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize decides on behalf of Börsenverein who shall receive the prize, which is awarded to individuals who “have made an outstanding contribution to the realization of the idea of peace, primarily through their activities in the fields of literature, science and art”.

Past recipients of the prize include Tsitsi Dangarembga (2021), Amartya Sen (2020), Sebastião Salgado (2019), Aleida and Jan Assmann (2018), and, in earlier years, Svetlana Alexievich (2013), Václav Havel (1989) and Lev Kopelev (1981).

The members of the Board of Trustees are Klaus Brinkbäumer, Prof. Dr. Peter Dabrock, Prof. Dr. Raphael Gross, Prof. Dr. Moritz Helmstaedter, Dr. Nadja Kneissler, Felicitas von Lovenberg, Prof. Dr. Ethel Matala de Mazza, Bascha Mika and Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, as chairwoman of the Börsenverein.

The Börsenverein group is an advocacy group and central service provider for the German book industry. The group consists of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and its business subsidiaries, the Frankfurt Book Fair, MVB, Mediacampus Frankfurt and the Holding Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Beteiligungsgesellschaft. From policy work and cultural projects to fair organisation, training and further education, publishing and technology services, the group bundles services and educational opportunities for the book and media industry.