The Elisabeth of Bohemia Prize donated by Ulrike Detmers, will be awarded by Ruth Hagengruber to an outstanding contemporary philosopher in honor of the philosopher Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618-1680).

This years winner of the endowed prize (3000EUR) is Marie Pauline Eboh.

Prof. Marie Pauline Eboh is a professor emerita of Philosophy, a Fellow of the Philosophers Association of Nigeria (PAN), a Fellow of the Association of Professional Philosophers of Nigeria (APPON), a renowned scholar, a three-time Director of the Institute of Foundation Studies, and the Founding Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. She read Philosophy (B.Phil., M.Phil., Ph.D.) and Pedagogy (B.Ed., M.Ed.) in Rome at Pontificia Università Gregoriana and Pontificia Università Ateneo Salesiana respectively. She obtained her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1983.

She is a prolific author, having published eighteen books, numerous journal articles, chapters in books, and made five entries in the Encyclopaedia of African Religions and Philosophy. A primary focus of her research was the question of the status of women in Africa, as evidenced by the following articles: “The woman question: African and Western perspectives”; “Aetiology of Feminist, Womanist, Femalist and Gynist Philosophy”; Philosophy, women, and responsible leadership in Africa” and “The woman being: Its nature and functions”. Prof. Eboh asserts that the emancipation of women is a pivotal national issue, and she critiques gender politics, interrogating the mistreatment, the second-class status, and some of the socio-cultural gender roles of women in Africa. Her most recent publications include M. P. Eboh and Marizu. Elechi (Eds.) Anthology of Authentic African Philosophy: A Revisionist View, Bereko Multinational Ltd., Port Harcourt, 2023; and M. P. Eboh, Storehouse of Values, Bereko, Multinational Ltd., Port Harcourt, 2024.

She is credited with developing gynism, an African gender philosophy, that aims to emancipate both men and women. She is a life member of the International Society for Universal Dialogue (ISUD). She has been the recipient of many awards including the Jacobsen Research Fellowship Award (Paris, 1991), the Great minds Foundation Youth Ambassador Award (Port Harcourt, 2016) and the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Catholic Chaplaincy, Rivers State University, Wisdom Award (Port Harcourt, 2016).

Prof. Eboh is a Religious. She belongs to the Congregation of Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy (DMMM), a Pontifical Institute of Papal Status. She served in the position of Superior General of this Congregation from 2003 to 2009. She was also the National President of Nigeria Conference of Women Religious (NCWR).

Selected list of publications on women’s and gender theories:

The Significance of Religion For Gynist and Gender Studies

Philosophy of Black Women’s Emancipation: A Critical Issue in African and Diaspora Cultures, 1992

The Impact of the Debt Crisis on Nigerian Women, 1993

Status of Women and Democratization in Nigeria, 1995

The advancement of Nigerian women, 1996

Gender Perspectives: The Nigerian Experience, 1997

African Women: Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1998

The woman question: African and Western perspectives, 1998

Aetiology of Feminist, Womanist, Femalist and Gynist Philosophy, 1999

Androcentric web and gynist philosophy, 2000

ECO-VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND NATURE, 2000

ECOGYNISM AND ACCOMMODATIONIST LOVE, 2000

Philosophy, women, and responsible leadership in Africa, 2003

The woman being: Its nature and functions, 2016