Press release: Miriam Gude wins the XVth Italian Thomas Dempster price 2009
On the 10th of December 2009, in the Royal Victoria Hotel in Pisa Italy, the XVth Thomas Dempster Price will be conferred to Miriam Gude. This price is awarded annually to individuals or groups that focus on the promotion and protection of cultural heritage.
Miriam Gude, partly resident in Amsterdam, partly resident in the Tuscan village of Montefoscoli receives this price because of her commitment to the cultural heritage of Montefoscoli, such as the Tempio di Minerva Medica, built in 1823 by the famous Tuscan doctor Andrea Vaccà Berlinghieri, and the Museum, which is devoted to him.
The price is named after the Scottish scholar Thomas Dempster (1579 – 1625), who wrote the first book about the history of the Etruscan population in Tuscany. This work, De Etruria Regali, was not issued until the 18th century, when it was published by a number of Tuscan intellectuals. They wanted to convince Europe to consider Tuscany as a separate State, that should not be incorporated by other states, after the death of the Great Duke Gian Gastone, the last De Medici.
