Nenci Prize
At Contessa Entellina, Sunday 25 June, the “Giuseppe Nenci” Prize was given to the young American archaeologist Randall Souza.
The jury of the Scuola Normale of Pisa awarded the prize to the doctoral dissertation the scholar wrote at the University of California, Berkeley, on the theme of the high mobility of populations that characterized Sicily in the IV and III centuries B.C. and the formation of group solidarity based on the name of the island: The mobility of Sicilian populations and the nature of Sicilian citizenship, 209-202 BCE.
The award ceremony took place at the Contessa Entellina Antiquarium “Giuseppe Nenci” – the museum that presents the history of the territory, from the Archaic period to the Middle Ages – in the presence of Professor Carmine Ampolo, president of the jury, Mayor Sergio Parrino and Baldo Palermo representing Donnafugata.
Randall Souza has placed Sicily at the center of his interests and has carried out periodic excavation campaigns in Morgantina over several years. Awarding him the Nenci Prize is the recognition of his great interest in the history of the island, and for the quality of his research. Souza received from Donnafugata a prize of 2,500 euros and a magnum of the prestigious Chardonnay Chiarandà Contessa Entellina DOC, and he is not the first foreigner to have his name inscribed on the list of winners of the Prize; before him, in 2004, it was won by American Jonathan Prag; an auspicious precedent seeing that today Prag is lecturer in Ancient History at Oxford.
Instituted by the Sicilian winery to support the studies carried out by the Scuola Normale in Sicily, the Prize is named after Professor Nenci, who was responsible for starting the research in the area characterized by the presence of the Elymians; the prize is awarded annually to the best master’s thesis, specialization or doctoral dissertation dedicated to the history of ancient Sicily.
The collaboration between the Normale and Donnafugata that started in 2001 aims to promote the knowledge of the Elymian civilization, to whom the introduction of grapevine cultivation in Sicily has been attributed. The winery has been carrying out this commitment by also supporting the Scuola in the archaeological excavations at the Elymian site on Rocca di Entella, in the territory of Contessa Entellina where Donnafugata has its vineyards.
Public Relations:
Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] ph. +39 0923 7242267
Laura Ellwanger [email protected] ph. +39 0923 724258
