Recipient of the 2023 Robert J. Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom
SIR SALMAN RUSHDIE
The novels of Sir Salman Rushdie have transformed culture around the globe and are recognized by his peers as among the greatest literature of our era. Midnight’s Children, a complexly layered examination of the identities, powers, worldviews, aspirations and conflicts shaping the people of India in the 20th century – as well as a reflection on religion, politics, sex, literature and modernity – won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was twice selected as the best novel ever to win the Booker. Sir Salman was knighted for his services to literature in 2007. His prizes and awards are plentiful, and (an honor dear to all novelists) so are his sales figures.
For thirty-five years, Sir Salman has also served as a global beacon light for intellectual freedom. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini demanded that Sir Salman be murdered for writing his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, a death mark subsequently confirmed by other terrorist leaders. Sir Salman’s resolute courage in the face of these threats – and of actual attempts on his life, one of which gravely wounded him in 2022 – has inspired millions around the world. His refusal to be silenced is a model for all those who would not allow any form of tyranny to control the human mind, and a reminder that the only thing more costly than standing up for intellectual freedom would be failing to stand up for it.
The Academy was honored to present the 2023 Robert J. Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom to Sir Salman Rushdie.
View our onstage conversation with Sir Salman after the awarding of the medal:
