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Frankfurt (dpa) - Wolf Lepenies, a 65-year-old Berlin academic, was named Monday as winner of the prestigious Peace Prize that is awarded by the German book trade during the annual Frankfurt Book Fair.
The 25,000-euro (31,500-dollar) prize, which honours literary contributions to world reconciliation, has mostly gone to non-German authors in the past, including novelist Orhan Pamuk of Turkey last year and Hungarian novelist Peter Esterhazy in 2004.
Lepenies, who is a sociologist, was honoured for his essays and his past leadership of the Berlin Institute of Advanced Studies, or Wissenschaftskolleg, which provides research fellowships.
The jury said his writing demonstrated the "indissoluble linkage" between science and morality, while his 15 years at the institute had made it one of most exciting academic institutions in Europe with research on Islam and on Eastern Europe. He retired this year.
The prize is to be handed over on October 8.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
