Holocaust survivor, scholar awarded $815,000 Balzan Prize

By COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press

MILAN (AP) — An Israeli-French-American Holocaust survivor and historian and a U.S. scientist specializing in gut bacteria were among the recipients this year’s Balzan Prizes, recognizing scholarly and scientific achievements. The prizes were announced on Monday.  Saul Friedlander, was awarded the prize for Holocaust and Genocide Studies for his work broadening the perspective on the history of the Holocaust.  A Pulitzer Prize winner and MacArthur fellow, 88-year-old Friedlander has taught at both the University of California, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv University. Jeffrey Gordon, a biologist and director of the Center for Genome Science at the Washington University in Saint Louis, was awarded for founding the field of human microbiome research.