Carl Wolmar Jakob von Uexküll
{{Short description|Swedish-German writer, lecturer, philanthropist, activist, and politician (born 1944)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{For|his grandfather the biologist|Jakob von Uexküll}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
|name = Jakob Freiherr von Uexküll
|image = Jakob_von_Uexkull_portrait.JPG
|image_size =
|caption = Jakob von Uexkull
|constituency_MP = Germany
|parliament = European
|term_start = 1987
|term_end = 1989
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|8|19|df=y}}
|birth_place = Uppsala, Sweden
|death_date =
|death_place =
|occupation = Writer, lecturer,
former member of the European Parliament
|party = Alliance 90/The Greens (Germany)
}}
Carl Wolmar Jakob Freiherr{{German title Freiherr}} von Uexküll (born 19 August 1944) is a writer, lecturer, philanthropist, activist and former politician. He served as a member of the European Parliament from 1987 to 1989 representing the German Green Party. In 1980, Uexküll founded the Right Livelihood Award,{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7647718.stm |title= Indians win 'alternative Nobel' |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |date= 2 October 2008 |publisher=BBC |accessdate=22 March 2011}} and in 2006, he co-founded the World Future Council.{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/838.html |title=World Future Council |access-date=24 March 2010 |archive-date=17 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017022402/http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/838.html |url-status=dead }} Born in Sweden, he holds both Swedish and German citizenship, and is a resident of the United Kingdom.
Biography
The son of Gustav Adolf Gösta Baron von Uexküll and Ewa Lewerentz, Jakob von Uexküll was born in Uppsala, Sweden of a noble Baltic German family that left Estonia after World War I. After studying in Sweden and Germany, he won a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
His grandfather Jakob von Uexküll was a biologist and the founder of the study of biosemiotics. His maternal grandfather was renowned Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz.{{Cite book|title=Sigurd Lewerentz, Architect: 1885-1975|last=Ahlin |first=Janne|date=1987|publisher=Byggförlaget|others=Lewerentz, Sigurd|isbn=9185194719|location=Stockholm|oclc=51471312}} Uexküll is married and has three children. He lives with his family in London.
Right Livelihood Award
The Right Livelihood Award evolved from von Uexküll's opinion that the Nobel Prizes were relatively narrow in scope and usually recognised the work of citizens in industrialised countries. Uexküll first approached the Nobel Foundation with the suggestion that it establish two new awards, one for ecology and one relevant to the lives of the poor majority of the world's population. He offered to contribute financially but his proposal was turned down.
Uexküll then created the Right Livelihood Award and provided an initial endowment by selling his collection of postage stamps for US$1 million; the awards have subsequently attracted additional funding from private individuals enabling the donation of annual prizes worth 150,000 euro.[http://www.rightlivelihood.org/history.html Right Livelihood Award] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620110022/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/history.html |date=20 June 2010 }} History In 1980, the first Right Livelihood Awards were bestowed in a rented hall.[http://www.rightlivelihood.org/history.html ibid.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620110022/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/history.html |date=20 June 2010 }} Five years later, the invitation to present them in the Riksdag (Swedish parliament) in Stockholm followed. Since 2005 his nephew Ole von Uexküll has taken over the management of the Right Livelihood Award.
Activism
In Germany, Alliance 90/The Greens has several times nominated Jakob von Uexküll in elections to the European Parliament. As a member of the European Parliament (1987–89), he served on the Political Affairs Committee and the Science and Technology Committee. He was also a member of the Delegation for Relations with the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Baltic Intergroup.
Uexküll is co-founder of the Other Economic Summit (1984), and founder of the Estonian Renaissance Award (1993). He is a patron of Friends of the Earth International, member of the Council of Governance of Transparency International, and of the Global Commission to Fund the United Nations. He served on the board of Greenpeace, Germany, and the New Economics Foundation, London. He was also a member of the UNESCO Commission on Human Duties and Responsibilities. Uexküll lectures on environment, justice and peace issues. He is also a philatelist with publications including The Early Postal History of Saudi Arabia (London, 2001).[http://www.ukphilately.org.uk/nps/new/newarchive2001.htm Book Presentation] The Early Postal History of Saudi Arabia In 2007, Uexküll founded the World Future Council.
Honours and prizes
- Officer's Cross of the Order Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2009)[http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/PM_Verdienstkreuz_090520-ENGL.pdf World Future Council] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708055513/http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/PM_Verdienstkreuz_090520-ENGL.pdf |date= 8 July 2009 }} Press Release
- Erich Fromm Prize in Stuttgart, Germany (2008)[http://www.erich-fromm.de/biophil/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86%3Abisherige-preistraeger&catid=34%3Astatisch&Itemid=53 Erich Fromm Preis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611050208/http://www.erich-fromm.de/biophil/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=86%3Abisherige-preistraeger&catid=34%3Astatisch&Itemid=53 |date=11 June 2011 }} Laureates
- Great Binding Prize for Environmental Protection, Liechtenstein (2006)
- Time magazine European Heroes Award (2005)Geary, James (13 November 2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080308111955/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129499,00.html "A Night for Heroes"]. Time.
- Third Class Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, Estonia (2001)[http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/decorations/bearers.php?id=207 Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana] Bearers
- Future Research Prize, Salzburg (1999)
- Bios Prize, St. Petersburg (1998)[http://www.biopolitics.gr/HTML/PRIZES/stpete/StPeteProg.pdf Bios Prize] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721080814/http://www.biopolitics.gr/HTML/PRIZES/stpete/StPeteProg.pdf |date=21 July 2011 }}
- Patron, International Student Week in Ilmenau (ISWI) 2015{{Cite web |title=ISWI 2015 – ISWI 2015 |url=http://2015.iswi.org/about-iswi/iswi-2015-dare-to-care/ |access-date=2022-06-01 |language=en-US}}
- Illis quorum (2014){{Cite web |date=2014-08-29 |title=Ehrung für Jakob von Uexküll von schwedischer Regierung |url=https://www.abendblatt.de/ratgeber/wissen/article131702450/Ehrung-fuer-Jakob-von-Uexkuell-von-schwedischer-Regierung.html |access-date=2022-06-01 |website=Hamburger Abendblatt |language=de-DE}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Jakob von Uexküll|Jakob von Uexkull}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000402/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/jakob.html Right Livelihood Award: The Founder] – Jakob von Uexküll
- Plon, Ulla (2 October 2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20081014081002/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1112799,00.html "Got his eyes on the prize"]. Time.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uexkull, Jakob Von}}
Category:Swedish people of Baltic German descent
Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Category:Alliance 90/The Greens MEPs
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class