Prešeren Award

The Prešeren Award (Slovene: Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award (Slovene: Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia.

By it, the award gained its current name and the Prešeren Fund was established, which by the amendments of the act in 1956 became a legal personality.

[5] Since 1991, when the Prešeren Award Act (Zakon o Prešernovi nagradi) was passed,[6] the Fund works under the auspice of the Slovenian administrative body in charge of culture.

[8] In an interview in February 2012, Skrušny described the work by the Board as independent and denied any political pressure in the past few years.

Any physical or legal person may nominate authors for the award, but have to provide appropriate rationale and references.

The board then makes the final selection with a secret vote in November after a long discussion and proclaims the awardees after they are elected by two thirds of members.

Although in the past, the names of the awardees were announced already on 3 December, the date of the anniversary of Prešeren's births, in the last years they have remained secret until the award ceremony.

A general trend of older men active in institutionalised arts is recognisable among the awardees.