THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Comedian Trevor Noah, the former host of “The Daily Show,” has won the prestigious Dutch Erasmus Prize, becoming the first humorist awarded the honor since Charlie Chaplin in 1965, the foundation that selects the winner announced Thursday.
The award is named for Dutch philosopher and humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus, who lived from 1466 to 1536.
The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation said in a statement that Noah, 39, was receiving the prize “for his inspired contribution to the theme ‘In Praise of Folly,’ named after Erasmus’s most famous book, which is filled with humor, social criticism and political satire.”
The foundation added: “With his sharp-minded, mocking yet inclusive political comedy, Noah, in the eyes of the jury, upholds the ‘Erasmian Spirit.'”
Noah, who rose to prominence as a stand-up comic in his native South Africa, announced last year he was leaving Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” after a seven-year run.