The Balzan Prizes recognize achievements in the study of human evolution, black holes with awards of $840,000.

An American historian, a French paleoanthropologist, a Danish naturalist and a German-Dutch astronomer have been named winners of this year’s Balzan Prize. Their work in the humanities and natural sciences advances the study of comparative literature, human evolution and black holes.

David Damrosch, chair of the department of comparative literature at Harvard University, was recognized for his “innovative approach to world literature as a translation medium that lives on because it has been accepted and changed,” the Balzan Foundation said in its statement.

Frenchman Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max-Planck-Institute for evolutionary anthropology in Leipzig was cited for his discovery of the oldest Homo sapiens in Africa, contributing to the study of human evolution. The quote praised his ability to create data, coordinate scientific groups and his qualities as a teacher “and popularizer.”

Also given a contribution to the study of human evolution, Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark is mentioned in human DNA studies, emphasizing the migration of people “to change our understanding of human history.” The quote said he used ancient DNA from teeth to identify human pathogens and found DNA in environmental samples to “open up a new field of science.”

The final individual prize went to Heino Falcke, an astronomer at Radboud University in the Netherlands, for his role in producing high-resolution images of matter around black holes as leader of the Horizon Facility. The work confirmed “Einstein’s General Relativity in cases where gravity is so strong that space-time is highly curved,” the judges said.

The Balzan Foundation awards prizes in the sciences and humanities every year, rotating experts to highlight new or emerging areas of research and to preserve areas that may be neglected elsewhere. Recipients receive 750,000 Swiss francs ($840,000), half of which must be used for research, preferably by young scholars or scientists.

This year, a special award for humanity, peace and fraternity among people was made to the Francesca Rava Foundation, an Italian organization that helps respond to humanitarian and natural disasters in Italy and Latin America. The prize, which is worth 750,000 Swiss francs, is awarded at intervals of at least three years.

The awards will be presented in Bern, Switzerland on November 17.