Wednesday 18th April had the Queen awarding a prize in her own name at the Royal Academy of Sciences and Letters.<\/p>\n
The recipient is Morten Rievers Heiberg, a professor in the recent history, culture, social affairs and politics of Spain at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen.<\/p>\n
The University Post reached Heiberg on the phone the day before the award ceremony during a break between getting his hair cut and preparing his acceptance speech.<\/p>\n
What does this prize mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI am deeply grateful and very humble to receive Her Majesty Queen Margrethe 2nd’s science prize. I interpret the prize as a complement to the humanities and as a recognition of the fruitful and very diverse research carried out by the language subjects at the University of Copenhagen.\u201d<\/p>\n Queen Margrethe II Science Prize<\/p>\n In 2015, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters instituted a science prize on the occasion of the society\u2019s patron HM Queen’s 75th birthday. It is the only prize in the Queen’s own name.<\/p>\n The prize is to be awarded once a year for the next 25 years. This year it is awarded for the third time. The prize, which is a personal prize of DKK 100,000, is given to an excellent researcher under 50 years of age<\/strong>, who works within the sciences that the society represents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “International history has not always got the most attention in Danish research environments, but a prestigious award like this can help to highlight the importance of archive-based research in International politics. Not everyone knows that research takes place on foreign political history and society in the language subjects \u2013 sometimes even more than in the traditional history departments.\u201d<\/p>\n Can you give an example from the interdisciplinary field that you work in, between history, romance languages, and law?<\/strong><\/p>\n “I am a professor in Spanish history. But I have worked with many things during the course of my career. I have a background in philology as an MA in Spanish and Italian, and I am accustomed to this branch of science, which I have first and foremost used to look with fresh eyes on international history, which is my lifeblood. ”<\/p>\n \u201cFor example, in my work with the Spanish Civil War. The traditional foreign policy archives offer a specific view on alliance relations in the 1930s. However, if you analyse the activities of the less official actors \u2013 such as businessmen or intelligence services \u2013 you get another picture. Nazi Germany officially supported Franco’s rebellion against the Republic in 1936, but they also actually supported the Republic militarily by sending arms. On that basis, associate professor dr. phil Mogens Pelt (the Saxo Institute) and I raised this research question: One party is officially supported, the other, albeit to a lesser extent, unofficially. And this led to a new view of the various priorities of German foreign policy during that period.\u201c<\/p>\n Morten Rievers Heiberg\u2019s CV<\/p>\n 2014: Professor of Spanish history, Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies, UCPH<\/p>\n 2013: Associate professor, Faculty of Humanities<\/p>\n 2011-12: Investigator, DIIS (leave from UCPH)<\/p>\n 2010: Assistant professor, Faculty of Law, UCPH<\/p>\n 2006-09: PET Commission secretariat<\/p>\n 2002-05: Postdoc (funded by the Carlsberg Foundation), Engerom, UCPH<\/p>\n 2001: External lecturer, Institute of Romance Languages, UCPH<\/p>\n 1998: PhD Fellow at the Institute of Romance Languages, UCPH<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n“Spain has for a long time lived an isolated life in Europe, but in its heyday it covered millions of square kilometres. What has this retreat meant for the Spanish nation today? I am trying to show how Spain, in most of its recent history, has been unable to define its own destiny in the international environment due to its internal weaknesses. First, England and France, then the