Humanism Prize for former rector daughters – University of Innsbruck
On April 11, Karlheinz Daughtersle was presented with the Humanism Prize of the German Association of Classical Philologists (DAV). The ceremony is usually part of the DAV Federal Congress, which this time could only take place virtually due to the pandemic. That is why the award ceremony, which was recorded live in the opening event of the conference, was only held on a small scale and in the home of the honoree.
The Humanism Prize is awarded to personalities who have made outstanding and successful contributions to education and the common good. A look at the list of previous award winners shows in which illustrated series Karlheinz Daughters has now been included as a result of this honour. One finds names there such as those of the former German Presidents Richard von Weizsäcker and Roman Herzog or the ex-mayor of Palermo and the mafia hunter Leoluca Orlando.
The great reputation of the prize was also addressed in the speeches of the evening and related to the great merits of Laudandus. In the welcoming speech of the university, Rector Tilmann Märk pointed out the differentiated image of antiquity of his predecessor and longtime companion: He never allowed himself to be tempted to kneel before Greek and Roman culture without thinking, but always questioned their role as role models and also mentioned the dubiousness of hasty updates . Through this unpretentious approach, he achieved more for his subjects than he could ever have done through clumsy interventions.
Dean Sebastian Donat, who welcomed those present on behalf of the Faculty of Philology and Cultural Studies, recalled that Karlheinz Daughters was one of the first Austrian Latinists to do research in the field of subject didactics and, like the DAV itself, has always built bridges between the built a university and school.
The laudatory speech was given by former EU Commissioner Franz Fischler. He paid tribute primarily to the public work of the honoree. In this context, the Insider provides valuable insights into the political culture of the Second Republic. In doing so, he helped the audience to better classify Karlheinz daughter’s achievements as a minister and member of parliament. However, it was also important to the keynote speaker not only to trace the humanitas of the prizewinner on the political and social stage, but also to present him as a homo privatus, who only comes into his own when he spends his free time with his family and in the community beautiful – preferably Tyrolean – nature.
The ideal value of the Humanism Prize materialized in a bust by the sculptor Wolf Spitzer, which shows the polymath Johann Joachim Becher and was presented to Karlheinz Daughters by Hartmut Loos, the honorary chairman of the DAV who had traveled from Germany. The artist, who, like Becher, comes from Speyer, had already cast famous thinkers such as Erasmus von Rotterdam, Philipp Melanchthon or Edith Stein in bronze for the last editions.
(Wolfgang Koefler)