The candidates for the National History Award, 2026 edition granted by the Ministry of Education are already in the race. Created in 1974, it honors those researchers who have stood out in the field of national historiography, historical studies.
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The award is given every two years, with the winner receiving a sum of money, currently $13,186,565 delivered as a one-time payment, and a lifelong pension equivalent to 20 UTM. This year there are outstanding academics competing for the award.
Nominated by the History School of the Diego Portales University (UDP), is the man of the distinguished historian Ana María Stuven, who was also a candidate for the award in 2020. A journalist from the University of Chile, with a degree in History from the Catholic University of Chile and a doctorate in History from Stanford University (USA), her work focuses on the history of political ideas and the role of women in history, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. If she wins the award, she would be the second woman to do so after Sol Serrano in 2018.
Supported by UDP, its rector, Carlos Peña, explains to Culto the reasons why the institution sponsors her nomination. “Professor Stuven has a historiographical work that contributes to a better understanding of who we are and how memory is shaped. Her conceptual history approach has contributed to this by showing how the concepts we use are not merely descriptive, but in them precipitates and settles a certain way of conceiving reality and the condition of the political community within it.”
“Her works on order and how it is constituted, on republican debates, or on the place of religion in society or the role of women, show this approach which constitutes an invaluable intellectual contribution to historiographical production that is always, at the same time, a way of exploring and constituting our memory.”
In her presentation letter for the candidacy, Peña added: “Professor Ana María Stuven has conceived her intellectual work in close contact with the problems that shape the public sphere, participating in debates and exchanges of views concerning communal life, thus showing that her vocation for ideas is not only about having them as an object of study and analysis, but also includes the willingness to express them, thereby contributing to public deliberation.”
Another candidate is the historian Joaquín Fermandois. Trained at the Catholic University of Valparaíso, he pursued postgraduate studies in Germany and Spain, where he obtained a doctorate from the University of Seville. His field of study relates to Chile’s international relations, political history, and contemporary history.
His nomination is supported by the History Institutes of two universities: San Sebastián University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. In this regard, the director of the UC History Institute, Claudio Rolle, explains to Culto: “The History Institute of the Catholic University and the university support Joaquín Fermandois’s candidacy for the National History Award due to his outstanding career as a researcher, teacher, intellectual, and creator or trainer of generations of historians and people interested in international relations. Joaquín Fermandois has cultivated a field of knowledge linking the study of international relations, political life, and cultural life with history and has an extensive body of work including monographs of great value for our discipline as well as books related to dissemination, opening new topics, and coordinating work teams in projects he has led.”
“He has been an especially important figure for many generations of historians trained at this university, at the Catholic University, at the Catholic University of Valparaíso where he worked, and also at the University of Chile, especially in International Studies. He is also a person who has provided significant public service in tasks of service and support to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various circumstances. Above all, he is valued for his ability to critically contribute to the vision of Chile and the world. He has always had a distinctive trait in seeking a perspective, a thought situated in a moment and place such as contemporary Chile. All these are reasons that lead us to think he is a person who fully deserves the National History Award.”
Also nominated is the historian Enrique Brahm, Lawyer and Bachelor in History, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; Doctor in Law, University of Frankfurt, Germany. His areas of study are contemporary universal history, with emphasis on the world wars and totalitarian regimes; Chilean legal-political history (19th and 20th centuries) and Military History.
His candidacy is supported by the University of Los Andes. Asked by this medium, José Luis Widow, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, states: “The reasons to nominate Enrique Brahm for the National History Award are multiple. First, his solid career as a researcher and his extensive academic production stand out, which includes 19 books and numerous articles, as well as outreach publications that have allowed him to bring history closer to diverse audiences. His work mainly covers contemporary and political history, international relations, and the development of conservative thought in Chile, as well as the study of the world wars and their political causes and consequences. His contribution is reflected in recent works such as The Great War, the enduring relevance of the First World War, his research on Mariano Egaña, the history of the University of Los Andes, and The Doors Close, about the consular corps and Jewish immigration to Chile during the Third Reich.”
“Along with his contribution as a researcher, his ability to communicate and transmit historical knowledge stands out. Enrique Brahm never isolated himself in the academic field but developed an extensive teaching career marked by enthusiasm and closeness to his students. That ability to address complex topics and make them understandable both to specialists and a broad audience is also a fundamental merit for a National History Award. His contribution, therefore, lies not only in the depth and relevance of his research but also in his ability to train, disseminate, and provide tools that allow understanding fundamental historical processes to comprehend both the Chile of the past and the country we live in today.”
Also nominated is the historian Isidoro Vásquez de Acuña. Trained in Anthropology and History at the University of Chile and Complutense University of Madrid, where he obtained his Doctorate in 1959 from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. His work is framed in the field of historical and genealogical research in Chile as an academic and president of the Chilean Institute of Genealogical Research.
His nomination is supported by the Chilean Folklore Society, whose president, Yvaín Eltit, comments: “The nomination of Mr. Isidoro Vásquez de Acuña is historical justice, a multifaceted, timely, and observant man, trained as the only disciple of Carlos Lavín Acevedo, musicologist and composer. Likewise, his merits are not limited to the field of history; he has worked on genealogy, heraldry, folklore, naval matters, and countless heritage issues.”
“Mr. Isidoro is also the last living member of the Chilean Folklore Association, which we reconstituted as the Chilean Folklore Society (2021), therefore, we have institutional reasons with him; he has unconditionally helped us reconstruct our past. His nomination has been for some years, and if necessary, we will continue to persist so that he is awarded, as it is a historical and heritage debt to the memory of our nation to recognize Mr. Isidoro with this award.”
Of course, there is also the candidacy of the historian Mario Garcés, academic of the History Department of the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH). An exponent of Social History, his work—in the line of the famous Gabriel Salazar—has rescued the past of the labor movement, residents, workers, community organizations, social movements, and popular memories, articulating academic research, oral history, and situated work with communities.
His nomination is supported by USACH and the LOM publishing house. The university stated: “The Council of the Faculty of Humanities and the History Department support the candidacy of Dr. Mario Garcés Durán for the 2026 National History Award, in recognition of a fundamental career for the renewal of Chilean social historiography. An academic of the USACH History Department, researcher, teacher, and reference in popular social history, Dr. Garcés has developed a body of work marked by historiographical rigor, public commitment, and the appreciation of memories, organizations, and community experiences as a central part of Chile’s history.”
“From the Faculty of Humanities, this support reaffirms the importance of the humanities as public knowledge, situated and socially relevant, capable of contributing to a critical understanding of our country and its historical processes.”
Meanwhile, at the LOM publishing house, editors Paulo Slachevsky and Silvia Aguilera state: “Professor Garcés has decisively contributed to the appreciation of oral history and historical memory as democratic heritage. His work in research, training, and support of social organizations has strengthened the link between historical knowledge and citizen participation, projecting his influence far beyond the university sphere.”
“We are convinced that the depth of the intellectual contribution and the work of Professor Garcés constitute a legacy of enormous value for Chile and Latin America, and an example of how historical research can contribute to strengthening a society more aware of its past and more committed to democracy and its future.”
Finally, there is the candidacy of the historian Sergio Martínez Baeza. Trained at the University of Chile, his field of study has been Indian law and legal history. He was also director of the José Toribio Medina Library, the Diego Barros Arana Library, and deputy director of the National Library of Chile.
His nomination is supported by the Institute of Historical Commemoration. From there, they tell Culto: “If we try to summarize his contribution, a triad that ordered his entire life appears clearly: teaching, research, and heritage. As a teacher, he trained human capital. As a researcher, he published works and supervised theses that remain references in Indian law and institutional history. As a heritage manager, he protected Chile’s memory. Few in our country can show such a coherent and useful curriculum for the common good.”
“Men like Sergio represent the intellectual spirit and public service of 20th-century Chile. A university man by vocation, a state official by conviction, and a man of the library by love. He did not seek media exposure. His prestige was built in classrooms, cataloging files, and board meetings. He is the kind of figure that culturally sustains a country, although he rarely appears in headlines. Today, at 96 years old, his legacy is tangible. It is in every student who learned to cite a source thanks to him. It is on the orderly shelves of the Medina and Barros Arana. It is in the conservation protocols now applied by the National Library. And it is in the awareness of many that preserving the past is also a way to project the future. For all these reasons, it is possible to promote his figure as a serious candidate to receive the 2026 National History Award. It is not a consolation prize or a belated tribute. It is about recognizing, in life, someone who has dedicated his existence to helping Chileans and foreigners better know our local and universal history, but with better tools for its potential study.”
This 2026, the jury that will grant the award will be composed of María Paz Arzola González, Minister of Education; Alejandra Mizala Salces, Rector of the University of Chile; Egon Montecinos Montecinos, Rector of Austral University, representative of CRUCH; Jacqueline Dussaillant Christie, representative of the Chilean Academy of History; and César Ross Orellana, 2024 National History Award last laureate.
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