Šimon Pánek to be awarded Arnošt Lustig prize

The Arnošt Lustig prize for 2022 will be awarded to Šimon Pánek, director and founder of the NGO People in Need. The prize is awarded annually to those contributing to the community through their courage, humanity, or spirit of justice.

Šimon Pánek was one of the prominent student leaders of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989 and a co-founder of People in Need, one of the biggest NGOs in Central Europe, which currently operates in 30 countries around the world.

The Arnošt Lustig prize was created in 2011 in honour of the world famous Holocaust survivor and Czech writer who died that year. In past years it has been awarded for example to bishop Václav Malý and presenter Kamila Moučková.