We are the laureates!

While the main intrigue of the evening was not revealed, our newspaper became the winner of the special prize of the 2014 “Enlightenment” award. Before presenting the diploma “For faithful service to the cause of enlightenment” to its editor-in-chief Boris Stern, TV presenter, writer and co-chairman of the award’s organizing committee, Alexander Arkhangelsky, noted: “We live in a world of incompatible phenomena. There are two forces - science, scientists and media, journalism. They rarely meet with each other, because scientists are boring, and media people are lively journalists. And if these two things don’t fit, then explain to people on the other side of the screen why we need science, why we need to finance it, why we don’t need to destroy the Academy of Sciences and the laboratory activities of universities, why we need them to go to rallies not only in defense of medicine , but also in defense of science, it is necessary that this meeting takes place. And those people who provide this meeting are great people. Because to prove that journalism can be scientific, and science can be media, that science is about politics, and about economics, and about the fate of the country, and about the country’s presence in the world, is a great gift.”

And the winner of the 2011 Enlightenment Prize, astronomer Vladimir Surdin, addressed the future laureates with such an unusual dedication, more than once interrupted by laughter from the audience: “Today is not only the day of the award ceremony, but also, as I was surprised to learn, World Clean Toilet Day. At first glance, what do they have in common? But, after thinking about it, I decided that these were almost synonyms. Those who work as sewer cleaners clean people's stomachs of toxins, and we cleanse their brains of various nonsense and saturate them with useful facts. In general, these are very similar professions. And there is paper, and here there is paper. Both here and here - a person is alone with his problems, and also works by the sweat of his brow... In general, both are useful.

I was asked to congratulate the nominees, the future winners, and I, frankly, am very jealous of those who, in a few minutes, will hear their name, come out here on stage and experience moments of joy. I have been remembering this moment for two years now, and the memories do not go away. But then the hard part begins. Then you will be sent to give lectures around our still colossal country. For example, in the winter I was sent to Yakutia to give lectures and there I was driven through the permafrost on dog sleds, after which I lost my voice for a month, and my university students suffered from this.

Then you will be seated in front of a computer to give online lectures, and you will tell this cyclops video camera, without seeing the audience in front of you, which is scattered throughout the country. This is very difficult, every lecturer knows what it is to lecture without seeing his audience. And the saddest thing is that television editors will pay attention to you, and you will be invited to television for a year, feeling the burden of enlightenment on your shoulders, you will not be able to refuse these invitations. And every time you leave the studio, you will experience disappointment in humanity... (These words were met with thunderous applause, as if everyone present had once experienced this. - Ed. ) But this feeling will pass as soon as you remember this evening, this circle friends, colleagues, friendly readers, and for this we are very grateful to D.B. Zimin and his wonderful team. And for everything that they have done over the years, thank you!”

According to the rules of the award, each finalist was rewarded with a cash prize of 100 thousand rubles, and will also take part in a lecture tour of Russian cities. The reward for each of the winners was 700 thousand rubles. A cash certificate of 130 thousand rubles. The publishers of the laureates' books, Corpus and Molodaya Gvardiya, will also be awarded for promoting books on the market. The finalists' books will be sent to 125 libraries in Russian regions.