Irina Pogorelaya19:43, 01/05/23

The award has already been removed from the list of projects that are under the patronage of the Queen on the website of the Royal Palace.

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark refused to patronize the Hans Christian Andersen Prize due to the appointment of Russian illustrator Anastasia Arkhipova as chairman of the jury.

According to the Danish edition  DR , the award was removed from the list of projects that are under the patronage of the Queen on the website of the Royal Palace. The mention of royal patronage has also disappeared from the website of the International Council for Books for Young People (IBBY).

The publication noted that in September, six months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the IBBY congress, Russian illustrator Anastasia Arkhipova was elected chairman of the jury that will next award the prize.

These elections split the organization, which was created after the Second World War. IBBY cells in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania tried to get the chairman of the jury resigned. At the same time, the Danish branch of IBBY did not sign this letter.

In response to country criticism, IBBY responded that board members do not represent their country’s governments, but represent themselves as authors, designers, or publishers.

But there is evidence that Anastasia Arkhipova is not just an artist – she is a member of the board of the Moscow Association of Artists, an association that actively promotes Russia’s war against Ukraine. In particular, the association recently held a contest of posters, videos and memes to be used in a campaign to promote the “special military operation” and mobilization in the Russian Federation.

What is the Hans Christian Andersen Prize

The Hans Christian Andersen Prize, established in 1956, is presented every two years by IBBY International. Awarded to writers and illustrators for outstanding contributions to children’s literature. It is called the Nobel Prize in children’s literature. Among others, the Swedish Astrid Lindgren received this award.

(C)UNIAN 2023