Femke Halsema, the politician who also presided over the jury, awarded the prize during a television show. She described the winning title as '"a beautifully composed story about slavery and colonialism, strength and endurance. It is a moving work of history by a historian and a novel writer."
David van Reybrouck had kind words for the other nominees for the prize: "For me, this prize would not have had the same glow if the literary level had not been so high".
The big loser of the evening was Tom Lanoye, who had to return empty-handed with his novel 'Speechless'. Koen Peeters was the third Flemish nominee with his family novel "The flowers". The three Dutch contestants were Oscar van den Boogaard, Willem Jan Otten and Kees van Beijnum.
Van Reybrouck will donate part of the prize money to the organisation Human Rights Watch. His novel has already been sold more than 50.000 times.
