Hermann Parzinger elected to the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences
Press release from 01/06/2012
At the end of December 2011, the Presidium of the Leopoldina elected Hermann Parzinger, the archaeologist, prehistorian and President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, as a new member of the Academy on the recommendation of the Academy members. He is a member of the Cultural Studies Section. According to the Leopoldina's statutes, people "who have distinguished themselves through significant scientific achievements" can be elected as members.
Hermann Parzinger is an award-winning scientist. In 1998, he was the first archaeologist and prehistorian to receive the Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation. In 2009, Russian President D. Medvedev awarded him the "Order of Friendship", the highest Russian honour for foreign citizens, in recognition of his scientific achievements and his wide-ranging commitment to German-Russian cultural and scientific relations. In 2011, Parzinger was inducted into the Order Pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts. Also last year, he received the Reuchlin Prize for special services to the humanities at the suggestion of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He is a member of numerous academies in Russia, China, Spain, Great Britain, Romania, the USA and Germany, including the British Academy and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Hermann Parzinger has been President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation since 2008.
The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina was founded in Schweinfurt in 1652 and is the oldest academy in the German-speaking world to have existed without interruption. The Academy has been based in Halle a. d. Saale since 1878. In 2008, the Leopoldina was named the National Academy of Sciences. Since reunification, the Academy's original profile in the natural sciences and medicine has been expanded by the establishment of humanities, cultural and social science sections. The Academy currently has around 1,400 members from over 30 countries.