Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation

The Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation is a Finnish non-profit organization founded in 1942 by industrialist Antti Wihuri and his wife, Jenny Wihuri, with the purpose of supporting cultural and economic development in Finland. The Foundation awards scholarships and prizes on an annual basis on October 9, the birthday of Antti Wihuri. Between 1942 and 2016, the Foundation had awarded grants of 274 million of euros.[1] In 2016, the total value of grants and prizes awarded by the Foundation amounted to 11,2 million euros.[2]

Wihuri Research Institute
The Wihuri Research Institute is located in Biomedicum Helsinki, at the Meilahti Academic Medical Center.

The Jenny and Antti Wihuri Research Institute was founded in 1944 with the aim of creating the conditions for high-quality research in the field of natural sciences, medicine and technical sciences. The Wihuri Research Institute focuses on cardiovascular research, and is particularly renowned for the innovative research it conducts on major chronic diseases. The Institute is currently headed by Professor Kari Alitalo.

Art collection

Since 1957, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation has built up a large collection of Finnish contemporary art. In 1983, the Foundation’s Board of Directors donated nearly 500 pieces of the collection to the City of Rovaniemi on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Atti Wihuri’s birth.

Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes

The Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes was founded in 1953 by Antti Wihuri. The Fund’s purpose is to distribute international awards, notably the Wihuri Sibelius Prize in recognition of creative work that has specially furthered and developed the cultural and economic progress of mankind. These prizes may be awarded to private individuals or organizations regardless of nationality, religion, race or language. Throughout its 62 years of operating the Foundation has awarded 35 prizes in total of which 18 have been Wihuri International Prize awarded to scientists.

Wihuri Sibelius Prize
Antti Wihuri handing over the Wihuri Sibelius Prize to Paul Hindemith in 1955. In the back President Juho Kusti Paasikivi.
Year Recipient[3] Country
1953 Jean Sibelius Finland
1955 Paul Hindemith Germany
1958 Dmitri Šostakovitš Soviet Union
1963 Igor Stravinsky United States
1965 Benjamin Britten United Kingdom
Erik Bergman Finland
Usko Meriläinen Finland
Einojuhani Rautavaara Finland
1971 Olivier Messiaen France
1973 Witold Lutoslawski Poland
Joonas Kokkonen Finland
1983 Krzysztof Penderecki Poland
Aulis Sallinen Finland
2000 György Ligeti Italy / Austria
2003 Magnus Lindberg Finland
2006 Per Nørgård Denmark
2009 Kaija Saariaho Finland
2012 György Kurtág Hungary
2015 Harrison Birtwistle United Kingdom

Wihuri International Prize
Year Recipient[4] Country
1958 Rolf Nevanlinna Finland
1961 Väinö Hovi Finland
Pentti I. Halonen Finland
1968 John McMichael United Kingdom
Lars Ahlfors United States
1971 Peter Hirsch United Kingdom
1976 Georg Henrik von Wright Finland
Jaakko Hintikka Finland
1979 Derrick B. Jelliffe United States
1982 Aldo van Eyck Netherlands
1983 Aksel C. Wiin-Nielsen Denmark
1985 John Williams Mellor United States
1988 Kullervo Kuusela Finland
1991 Kari I. Kivirikko Finland
1994 Olli V. Lounasmaa Finland
1997 Niilo B. Hallman Finland
2003 Barbara Czarniawska Poland
2012 Merja Penttilä Finland
2015 Thania Paffenholz Switzerland

Sources
  1. "Awarded grants". Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  2. "Jenny ja Antti Wihurin rahasto jakoi yli 11 miljoonaa – tässä poimintoja apurahan saajista" [The Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation has distributed more than 11 million – here are some of the grant recipients]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. October 9, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  3. "Wihuri Sibelius Prize". Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  4. "Wihuri International Prize". Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
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