Johannesburg - Renowned South African-born comedian Trevor Noah has been awarded the prestigious Dutch Erasmus Prize 2023, becoming the first humorist awarded the honour since Charlie Chaplin in 1965.
The international talent receives the award for his inspired contribution to the theme “In Praise of Folly”, named after Erasmus's most famous book, which is filled with humour, social criticism and political satire.
As a humorist, television presenter, political commentator, philanthropist, and author, Noah has staked his claim in the world of contemporary political satire.
The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation said in a statement that Noah, 39, was receiving the prize “for his inspired contribution to the theme ‘In Praise of Folly’ … With his sharp-minded, mocking, yet inclusive political comedy, Noah, in the eyes of the jury, upholds the ‘Erasmian Spirit’."
Noah made his breakthrough with his stand-up comedy at a young age. His solo shows, among them The Daywalker (2009), Crazy Normal (2011), That’s Racist (2012), and It’s My Culture (2013), quickly became hugely popular in South Africa and beyond.
After his early success, he proved himself to be an inspiration to budding talents and a curator of comedy shows in Africa.
The emergence of a new generation of socially committed black comedians in South Africa who explore racism and the legacy of colonialism was soon labelled the “Trevor Noah effect”.
From 2015 on, he spent seven years presenting The Daily Show, the most popular satirical television programme in the world.
Noah’s time at The Daily Show coincided with the rise of fake news, the presidency of Donald Trump, the Covid-19 pandemic, and Black Lives Matter after the murder of George Floyd.
In his autobiography, Born a Crime, Noah describes how as a child with a black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss father during the apartheid era, he was confronted early in his life with institutionalised racism and violence.
Instead of reacting to injustice with cynicism, Noah exposes its absurdities and combats these struggles with the liberating power of laughter.
The Erasmus Prize is awarded annually to a person or institution that has made an exceptional contribution to the humanities, the social sciences, or the arts. The King of the Netherlands is a patron of the foundation.
The Star