• South African comedian has clinched a globally renowned Prize for his contributions to the arts.
• The young African has enjoyed stints on stage, on TV, and across other media platforms making him one of Africa’s most sought-after talents.
• Noah had quit hosting a popular TV show but his impact while at it did not go unnoticed and unrewarded.

Trevor Noah, South African stand-up comedian, Television host, author of international repute, entertainment entrepreneur, and renowned media personality, has registered yet another first; by winning the Dutch Erasmus Prize, the admired European prize named after humanist scholar and philosopher Desiderius Erasmus, he has become the first black comedian to clinch the prestigious recognition.

The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation selected the former host of popular TV show, The Daily Show, for his brilliant input to the theme ‘In Praise of Folly,’ named after one of the most famous books by Erasmus, filled with social criticism, humor, and political satire. Although numerous fans across the world received the news of his exit from the daily show after seven years with immense shock, the foundation celebrated Noah for being a worthy custodian and ambassador of what they called the ‘Erasmian Spirit’.

The prize which comes with a cash sum of €150,000 ($159,000) is given yearly to a “person or institution that has made an exceptional contribution to the humanities, the social sciences or the arts, in Europe and beyond.” The foundation commended Noah for sustained efforts at gathering a youthful, diverse, and global audience and dishing out freshness to consumers of Media content, especially during unusual moments like the COVID 19 era, Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as during the Black Lives Matter movement.

A Hollywood Reporter had reported, earlier this year, that fans of the 39-year-old should stand by for his new book about forgiveness, reception and the secret to harmony.

Noah, an advocate for political and social issues, was born in Johannesburg in 1984; this means he was raised during the apartheid era. His mother’s root is traced to the Xhosa ethnic group in South Africa, while his father is of Swiss-German ancestry. His career in comedy commenced in the early 2000s, in South Africa, when he went round performing in local comedy clubs and hosting his own comic radio show. He attracted national attention with “The Trevor Noah Show,” an electrifying talk show that aired from 2010 to 2011, on a South African television.

In 2011, Noah debuted on U.S. television with “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Ever since, he has featured on numerous American talk shows, including “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” He became the new host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, In 2015, after Jon Stewart.

Noah is also the brain behind several comedy specials, including “The Daywalker” in 2009, “That’s Racist” in 2012, and “Afraid of the Dark” in 2017. He published his engaging memoir “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” In 2016, and it became a New York Times bestseller. He frequently speaks up against police brutality and racial profiling; he has also advocated for gender equality. In 2018, he donated a sum of $10,000 to the Chicago Public Schools Foundation to help support arts education.