City-born scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak wins 2025 Holberg Prize

Kolkata: Kolkata-born literary theorist and scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has been awarded the 2025 Holberg Prize of Norway.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the professor for winning the Holberg Prize, regarded as one of the most prestigious international awards in the humanities and social sciences.

“I congratulate our Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak on her attaining yet another top international recognition. She has been chosen this year for the Holberg Prize of Norway, which is considered to be a top prize in humanities and social sciences. She makes us proud by this attainment of this highest honour,” Banerjee wrote on her X handle.

The Holberg Prize, funded by the Norwegian government and managed by the University of Bergen is given annually to a researcher in the fields of humanities, social sciences, law or theology.

“Professor Spivak is widely known for her contributions to literary theory and philosophy. But I have been also charmed by her long and sustained association with pro-poor voluntary services in some remote villages of West Bengal.

Her endeavours to get translated the all-time classics of Bengali literature into English constitute a project that inspires us,” Banerjee wrote.

The 82-year-old professor at Columbia University is an alumnus of Calcutta University. According to Columbia University’s website, the Holberg Prize is one of the largest international research awards, amounting to around USD 540,000.

The award will be presented to Spivak at the University of Bergen on June 5.

Born in Kolkata on February 24, 1943, Spivak has kept alive her connection with Bengal, working closely with academics and authors like Mahasweta Devi. She has written nine books and edited, translated several others.