The Supreme Council of Culture in Egypt announced today, Tuesday, the awarding of the Nile Prize in the arts to the visual artist Abdel Salam Eid, the highest award granted by the state annually in the fields of arts, literature, and social sciences. The same prize in the literature category was awarded to the translator and critic Mohamed Anani, who passed away in January after being nominated, while the prize in the social sciences category went to political science professor and former Minister of Youth Ali El-Din Helal. The Nile Prize for Arab Creators, valued at 500,000 Egyptian pounds (approximately 16,000 USD), was awarded to Iraqi visual artist Diaa Azizawi.
The council also announced the granting of the State Appreciation Prize in the arts to musician Hani Shnoda, the head of the acting professions Ashraf Zaki, and architecture professor Dalia El-Kardani from Cairo University. The State Appreciation Prize in the literature category was awarded to novelist Hala Al-Badri, literary criticism and rhetoric professor Ahmed Youssef, and the late Abdel Rahim Al-Kardi, a professor of modern Arabic literature and criticism.
In the social sciences category, awards went to former Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, former head of the African Studies Institute Sayed Filfil, ancient history and civilization professor Hassan Al-Saadi, and political science researcher Salah Salem. The council also announced the grant of the State Prize for Excellence in the arts to flutist Rania Yehia and visual artist Fathi Afifi, in the literature category to poet Fathi Abdel Samed and the late playwright Mustafa Selim, and in the literature category to Hanaa El-Gohary, Hassan Salama, and Ahmed Ragab.
