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World Monuments Fund (WMF) honored Prince Amyn Aga Khan, of the Aga Khan Development Network, and Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler, historian of the city of Havana, Cuba, at the 31st annual Hadrian Gala held at the Rainbow Room in New York City on October 23.

Prince Amyn Aga Khan received the Hadrian Award for his lifelong support of cultural heritage in all its forms. Prince Amyn holds multiple leadership roles within the Aga Khan Development Network — a group of development agencies with mandates that include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, tourism, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise, and the revitalization of historic cities.

Among many board and committee positions at cultural institutions around the world, Prince Amyn has served as a trustee of World Monuments Fund since 1997.

Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler received the Hadrian Award 2018 for his unmatched contributions to the preservation of the historic center of Havana, Cuba.

“Dr. Leal has served as the historian of the city of Havana since 1967, and is responsible for the comprehensive rehabilitation of Havana’s historic center, which is inscribed on the World Heritage list. He is a professor, honorary professor, or professor emeritus at more than thirty prestigious universities, and has received the highest honors, medals, and commendations issued by countries around the world,” states the press release.

BY BLOUIN ARTINFO | October 23, 2018
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Following the presentation of the Hadrian Award, Prince Amyn Aga Khan said the following (from video of presentation)

Thank you very much

I am flattered and I am honored and it has been a joy working with the WMF

I find that working with a monument allows you to do much more than just restoring the monument when they are adopted by the local citizens around the monument. Those citizens can be encouraged to modernize the infrastructure around the monument and then maybe to upgrade or create an educational facility and possibly a medical facility. Then you give them a little bit of micro-finance. You give them some financial assistance and suddenly you have shops and you have a life around these monuments

And suddenly a monument, a thing of the past, has become an essential part of the present. And what was dead has been given life

So I think it’s one of the best activities we can engage in.

Thank you