Cornelia de Vogel Prize Awarded at the XIV Symposium Platonicum

Date

May 17, 2025

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With the generous support of the Cornelia de Vogel Foundation, the International Plato Society is pleased to announce that the Cornelia de Vogel Prize was awarded during the XIV Symposium Platonicum to Benny Kozian, Francisco Petrucci, Lia Theodoroudi, and Benny . . .

With the generous support of the Cornelia de Vogel Foundation, the International Plato Society is pleased to announce that the Cornelia de Vogel Prize was awarded during the XIV Symposium Platonicum to Benny Kozian, Francisco Petrucci, Lia Theodoroudi, and Benny Kozian, in recognition of the best papers presented by young scholars.

This prize aims to honor outstanding emerging researchers in Platonic studies, and we hope it will become a tradition in future Symposia, continuing to encourage new generations of scholars dedicated to the thought of Plato.

The award bears the name of Cornelia Johanna de Vogel (1905–1986), a pioneering Dutch philosopher who held the Chair of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at the University of Utrecht from 1947 to 1974. Her influence extended far beyond her official retirement, as she remained deeply committed to philosophical work. Even in the final year of her life, she was preparing Rethinking Plato and Platonism for publication.

De Vogel is particularly remembered for her monumental three-volume sourcebook on ancient philosophy (Thales to Plato, Aristotle, Peripatetics and Academy, Hellenistic and Roman Period, 1950–1959). Her interpretation of Plato emphasized a dynamic, spiritually inspired vision: the world of Forms, in her view, was not static but alive with movement. She embraced the Neoplatonic reading of Plato as fundamentally faithful to his thought and maintained a rich dialogue with figures such as Giovanni Reale and the Milan School on the unwritten doctrines.

Outside academia, she also stood firm in public debate. In 1980, when the Bishop of Rotterdam claimed that motherhood was the most fundamental role of women, De Vogel replied that teaching and inspiring others in philosophy and religion is a spiritual vocation open to both men and women — and that nowhere in the Bible is procreation described as humanity’s only purpose.

Cornelia de Vogel passed away on May 7th, 1986. Through this prize, her intellectual legacy continues to inspire and support the next generation of scholars in Platonic philosophy.