U.S. Historian Timothy Snyder Honored with Ukraine’s Top Cultural Award

American historian and writer Timothy Snyder has been named the 2025 laureate of the Vasyl Stus Prize, one of Ukraine’s most respected cultural honors recognizing artistic achievement and moral courage.

The Gaze reports this, referring to PEN Ukraine.

The prize, named after the Ukrainian poet and dissident Vasyl Stus, is awarded annually to writers and cultural figures who have made significant contributions to Ukrainian culture and demonstrated civic resilience. Established in 1989, the award has honored more than 70 recipients.

In his acceptance speech, delivered in Zaporizhzhia, Snyder expressed humility, noting that many Ukrainian poets and authors continue to capture the reality of war through their work. 

“There are so many Ukrainian writers who convey the essential truth about the war in poetry and prose. That is why I feel a bit uncomfortable, because I know personally so many people who are shaping this war in their words. I can only express gratitude. In wartime Ukraine, I cannot speak about myself, only about others, from whom I continue to learn,” he said.

The award was presented by philosopher and writer Volodymyr Yermolenko, president of PEN Ukraine and chair of the prize jury. 

“Timothy Snyder is today one of the strongest voices in the world in support of Ukraine. His stance is rooted in the belief that tyranny must be met with determined resistance. For him, the dissidents of Central and Eastern Europe, including Vasyl Stus, embody that spirit. This award is also a sign of how deeply Ukraine values Snyder’s voice in our support,” Yermolenko said.

Snyder, a professor at Yale University, is internationally known for his research on the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. 

His works, translated into more than 40 languages, include Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, and On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.

Vasyl Stus, after whom the award is named, was one of Ukraine’s most prominent poets and a symbol of resistance to Soviet repression.

Arrested for his political views, he died in a Soviet labor camp in 1985. The prize established in his honor has since become a symbol of the fight for freedom, truth, and cultural resilience in Ukraine.