The Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award is a civil decoration given annually to honor individuals who have dedicated their lives to public service. It was established in 2000 by the Prague Society for International Cooperation and the Global Panel Foundation. It is named in honor of the Prague Society's President Marc S. Ellenbogen's mother who grew up in war torn Europe. The award comes with a 150,000 crown cash prize, which the award recipient passes on to a young person or institution in the public realm. For instance when the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra won the award in 2000, the cash prize was given to Lukas Vondracek, an aspiring musician at the time, who is now recognized worldwide.
Award recipients First – Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Conducting Corp of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy (the Chief Conductor), and the Conducting Corp of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Include: Vladimir Valek (the permanent conductor), Sir Charles Mackerras and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi (the principal guest conductors)). Askenazy devoted his first years as a musician to the piano. After winning first prizes in Brussels in 1956 and Moscow in 1962, he spent three decades touring the great musical centers of the world. From the 1970s, he became increasingly active as a conductor and held positions with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. From 1998 to 2003 Ashkenazy led the Conducting Corps of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he undertook the major Prokofiev-Shostakovich series in 2003. Vladimir Valek has performed in many major cities around the world like Brussels, Cairo, Copenhagen, London, New York, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and Vienna. Sir Charles Mackerras (in memoriam), born in Australia, had a passion for music his entire life and was honored with many awards throughout his life. Kobayashi was the first Asian Conductor to conduct at the Prague Spring Music Festival in 2002.
Financial part donated to Lukáš Vondráček Born in the Czech Republic in 1986, Lukáš Vondráček's musical ability was spotted at the age of two by his mother, herself a professional pianist. He gave his first concert at the age of 4, and by the age of 20 had visited 22 countries giving in excess of 850 concerts. Vladimir Ashkenazy was the conductor when Lukáš made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2002 with concerts in Prague and Italy. Since then he has appeared frequently with the orchestra, including a major USA tour, and concerts in Cologne, Vienna, Lucerne, Bad Kissingen, and Birmingham's Symphony Hall. In 2010, he won First Prize at the 10th Hilton Head International Piano Competition in South Carolina, USA. Most recently, Lukas won First Prize, Grand Prize plus 4 special prizes at the 2012 UNISA Vodacom International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa. In 2016 Lukas Vondráček won the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in 2016.
Second – Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. She was the first woman Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the US government. As Secretary, Albright reinforced America's alliances, advocated democracy and human rights, and promoted American trade and business abroad. Serving as a member of the President's Cabinet & National Security Council for 8 years, Albright was the US Permanent Representative to the UN from 1993 to 1997. Albright is the first Michael & Virginia Mortara Endowed Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. She is the chairman of The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and founder of the Albright Group, a global strategy firm delivering solutions and advice for businesses in a rapidly changing world.
Financial component donated to Petra Procházková
Madeleine Albright donated financial part to Petra Procházková, a Czech journalist and humanitarian worker. She is best known as a war correspondent to the conflict areas of the former Soviet Union. Procházková studied journalism at Charles University in Prague. In 1989 she started work at the newspaper Lidové noviny. In 1992 she became Lidové Noviny's Moscow correspondent. Here she began covering conflict areas - Abkhazia being the first. During the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 she was the only journalist that stayed in the besieged Russian White House. In 1994, together with fellow journalist Jaromír Štětina, Procházková founded the independent journalism agency Epicentrum dedicated to war reporting. In the following years she covered events in Chechnya, Abkhazia, Ossetia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nagorny Karabakh, Kurdistan, Kashmir and East Timor.
Third – Václav Havel
Václav Havel grew up in a circle which maintained Czechoslovakia's independent culture in defiance of the Communist regime of the time. Excluded from higher education, he made his name in the 1960s with satirical plays which contributed to the intellectual atmosphere of the Prague Spring. During the normalisation period which followed the Soviet invasion he took menial jobs whilst his work was published in samizdat. He was one of the first three spokesmen for Charter 77, and a member of the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted. He was sentenced to four and a half years hard labour, resulting in a breakdown in his health. After his release in 1983 he continued to be a leading member of the opposition movement which culminated in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. He was elected the first President of a free Czechoslovakia and subsequently of the Czech Republic.
Financial component donated to Andrej Dyńko Václav Havel donated the financial part to Andrej Dyńko, the editor-in-chief of the independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva. Openly critical to President Lukashenko's regime, and the only major newspaper written in Belarusian, Nasha Niva has become an important symbol of freedom and independence. Dynko is a Graduate from Minsk State Linguistic University, and holds an MA in International Relations. Until August 2000, he also taught at his alma mater. From 2002, Dynko has been the Vice-President of the Belarusian PEN Center.
Fourth – Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
Lord Robertson, born on the Isle of Islay in Scotland, was elected to the House of Commons in 1978. After the Labour Party won the elections in 1997, Prime Minister Blair appointed him as the Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom. In August 1999 he was selected as the tenth Secretary General of NATO, and the same month received a life peerage, taking the title Lord Robertson of Port Ellen. For 7 years he was on the Council of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) where he now serves as Joint President. He has been awarded the Grand Cross of the German Order of Merit and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania and was named joint Parliamentarian of the Year in 1993 for his role during the Maastricht Treaty ratification. He was appointed a member of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council in May 1997.
Financial component donated to David Hodan Lord Robertson donated the financial part to David Hodan, who first met Lord Robertson in May 2003. Encouraged by Ms Bela Gran Jensen, founder of the "Centipede" movement, he wrote an essay named "What I would do if I were General Secretary of NATO". Lord Robertson read the essay and asked to meet David, saying that he especially liked the quotation from Charlie Chaplin which David used in the essay: "I am interested in my future because that is where I am going to spend the rest of my life." The meeting took place within sight of Prague Castle – which David likes to call his "future seat". A student at the Terezie Brzková 33-35 school in Pilsen (of which Marc S. Ellenbogen is a Patron), his ambition is one day to become President of this country. As he says himself, he is an "ordinary boy" with the interests of a boy of his age – he reads a lot and works with computers, but he also has a special interest in current world events, politics and medicine. He is particularly concerned about parts of the world where children suffer as a result of military conflict. David is a boy with the courage to say what he thinks, and to have dreams which may come true.
Fifth – Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman, born in Čáslav, outside Prague, he lost both his parents in the Nazi death camps. After studying in Prague he made his first feature film in 1963: Black Peter, an autobiographical account of a teenager in a small Czech town. He gained international recognition with Loves of a Blonde. Despite this, his next film, The Firemen's Ball, attracted the attention of the Communist authorities and was banned. After the Soviet invasion of 1968, Forman settled in America, winning international fame with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It swept the Academy Awards, winning all five major Oscars. From his earliest Czechoslovak work through his American period to Goya's Ghosts, Forman's directing remains close to the reality of life; its absurdity and transforming joys.
Financial component donated to the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek The financial component of the award was donated to the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondříček in Písek. The Film Academy divided financial part into three parts of 50,000 crowns each to provide scholarships for students. The first recipient was the 27-year-old student of film, Martin Palouš, who received the Award from Marc S. Ellenbogen on 11 October 2007 at the celebratory opening of the Písek Film Festival.
Sixth – Romania's King Michael I
His Majesty King Michael I of Romania (born 1922; died 2017) was twice Head of State in Romania: from 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 to 1947, when he was deposed by the Communists, stripped of his citizenship, and banished from the country. Over the next fifty-five years he worked as a mechanic, commercial pilot and businessman and, with his wife Queen Anne, Princess of Bourbon-Parma, brought up their five daughters. In 1997 he said in an interview: "The King is head of state but he is also the first servant of the people. Never forget that."
Financial component donated to Petrisor Ostafie
A student of medical bio-engineering in Iasi, Petrisor Ostafie is an example of someone who, on receiving something, returns more than was given. He proved this by being first a volunteer and then a member of the Board of the Alaturi de Voi (Close to You) Romania Foundation. In addition, he exudes in speaking on numerous occasions about what it means to live with HIV and has become an example for many young people in the same situation. Petrisor has spent over 4000 hours of voluntary work on programs developed by the Alaturi de Voi Romania Foundation and has brought hope to over 200 young people living with HIV.p.57 https://ebxnews.com/images/Magazines_LowRes/2007/EBEX_Low_Res_June_2007.pdf
Seventh – Alexander Milinkevich (Alaksandar Milinkievič)
Alaksandar Milinkievič became involved in the local politics of his home city, Hrodna, in the 1980s. Four years in Algiers setting up the Faculty of Physics at Sétif University, had given him a wider experience of the world than his contemporaries. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he entered national politics, becoming Chief of Staff to one of the opposition leaders. In 2005 he was chosen by the United Democratic Forces of Belarus as joint candidate of the opposition in the presidential elections of 2006, to stand against the authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko. He was held by the police before and after the elections on false charges of drunken driving, forgery, drug trafficking and leaving Belarus illegally.
Financial component donated to Pavel Sieviarynets