Prof Gobodo-Madikezela wins prestigious 2024 Templeton Prize
THE 2024 Templeton Prize has been awarded to Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, for her contributions to scholarship and advancing knowledge in the field of forgiveness and processes of repair in the aftermath of trauma violence.
She is the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair for Violent Histories and Historical
Trauma and Founding Director of the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest (AVReQ) at Stellenbosch University.
The Templeton Prize is awarded annually and honours individuals whose work draws from the scholarly disciplines to explore the deepest questions about humanity and the universe.
Gobodo-Madikizela has pledged to donate a total of R8 million to Stellenbosch University.
In a statement, the Templeton Prize said about Gobodo-Madikizela: “Her career as a scholar and a public figure is distinguished by her effort to repair ruptures created by past violence and to build a path toward healing and restoration in an ongoing process she calls 'the reparative quest'”.
Gobodo-Madikizela said she felt a deep sense of gratitude at receiving the prize. She referred to it as a “rare gift" that offers an opportunity to fund new research projects at AVReQ, especially on questions of violent histories and repair.
“I am interested in how violent histories so often play out transgenerationally in new forms, and on deepening our understanding of complex processes of repair.
“I have always pursued new avenues of inquiry, seeking ways of contributing to new frontiers of knowledge. I am hoping that as a team we will continue to rise to this critical intellectual challenge.”