The Pessoa Prize (Portuguese: Prémio Pessoa, [ˌpɾɛmju pɨˈsoɐ]), named after Fernando Pessoa, is recognized as the most important award in the area of Portuguese culture. Instituted in 1987 by the newspaper Expresso and the IT company Unisys, since 2008 the prize has been sponsored by Caixa Geral de Depósitos. It is granted annually to the Portuguese person who during this period, and in the course of previous activity, has distinguished him or herself as a figure in scientific, artistic, or literary life.
1987 - José Mattoso, historian
1988 - António Ramos Rosa, poet
1989 - Maria João Pires, pianist
1990 - Menez, painter
1991 - Cláudio Torres, archaeologist
1992 - António Damásio and Hanna Damásio, neurophysiologists
1993 - Fernando Gil, philosopher and poet
1994 - Herberto Helder, poet - refused the award
1995 - Vasco Graça Moura, essayist
1996 - João Lobo Antunes, neurosurgeon
1997 - José Cardoso Pires, writer
1998 - Eduardo Souto de Moura, architect
1999 - Manuel Alegre, poet, and José Manuel Rodrigues, photographer
2000 - Emmanuel Nunes, composer
2001 - João Bénard da Costa, president of the Cinemateca Portuguesa—Museu do Cinema, and a film historian
2002 - Manuel Sobrinho Simões, researcher
2003 - José Gomes Canotilho, constitutionalist
2004 - Mário Cláudio, writer
2005 - Luís Miguel Cintra, actor and set designer
2006 - António Câmara, professor and founder of the YDreams IT firm
2007 - Irene Pimentel, historian
2008 - Carrilho da Graça, architect
2009 - Manuel Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon, then-bishop of Porto
2010 - Maria do Carmo Fonseca, scientist and Professor of the School of Medicine of Santa Maria
2011 - Eduardo Lourenço, essayist
2012 - Richard Zenith, writer and translator
2013 - Maria Manuel Mota, scientist
2014 - Henrique Leitão, Physicist, Professor and researcher in the field of History of Sciences
2015 - Rui Chafes, sculptor
2016 - Frederico Lourenço, writer and translator
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