Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka on Thursday presented the Gratias Agit Awards honouring individuals and organisations for promoting the Czech Republic abroad. The 13 laureates include Czech-born Canadian scientist Václav Smil, an internationally recognised expert on energy, technology and the environment and Tomáš Cihlář, a Czech virologist and senior executive at US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences who contributed to the development of remdesivir and the HIV-prevention drug lenacapavir.
The award also went to pianist Ivo Kahánek, director of the Prague Conservatory and a BBC Music Magazine Award winner; British historian Tom Doležal, who documents the wartime service of Czechoslovak airmen in the Royal Air Force; and Geraldine Anna Manolas, head of the British Memorial Association for Free Czechoslovak Veterans.
Among this year's recipients was also game developer Daniel Vávra, creator of the 2002 cult classic Mafia and the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series.