Actor Peter Simonischek received an honorary doctorate from the Graz University of Art on Tuesday. He is only the second person to receive this honor, after pop superstar Phil Collins.
Born in Graz, Peter Simonischek has had a unique career: after graduating from the art university in Graz, he made a career in German-language theatres, played in the Schaubühne Berlin from 1979, appeared for the first time at the Salzburg Festival in 1982, where he later also played the “Jedermann”. He has been part of the ensemble of the Burgtheater in Vienna since 1999 and has been an honorary member since 2019. He also regularly shot for film and television. His greatest success: he received the European Film Prize for the role of Toni Erdmann in the film of the same name by Maren Ade, which was also nominated for a foreign Oscar.
Honorary doctorate for graduates
Now he has been awarded only the second honorary doctorate in history from the University of Art and Design Graz. First prize went to musician Phil Collins. Simonischek is the first actor and the first university graduate to receive this honor.
Laudation by ex-Governor Klasnic
“Everyone knows Peter Simonischek as a great actor,” emphasizes Waltraud Klasnic, former governor of Styria, in her laudatory speech. “Even given his impressive international career, he has never forgotten his roots. He is an important actor, a self-proclaimed Taurus and a family man with a big and broad heart.”
“Special achievements in the field of art”
Senate President Wolfgang Hattinger commented on the honorary member’s biography in his tribute: “For me, the beauty of today’s honor is that it recognizes not only exceptional achievements in the field of art, but also a special bond with our university as a whole. of artistic human education.Peter Simonischek fought for his studies in this house, according to his father’s wishes he should have studied medicine and later trained as a dental technician.Instead, he began to study architecture and eventually enrolled – in the secret – in the then academy to study acting I quote from a letter from Peter Simonischek to our rector: “It was the happiest time of my young life until then. After the Catholic boarding school and the Matura it was the first time that that was mine.’
In his acceptance speech, Peter Simonischek included this memory, explaining: “I think I’m finally standing here because I did something I really wanted to do. I was lucky enough to have an awakening experience, which thankfully came back again and again with a certain stubbornness.” He also spoke several times to the drama students present for whom he was already available in the afternoon for an extensive conversation, and their performance in the context of the ceremony “really made an impression” on him.
Source: Krone
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