"Erased" by Panamanian historian Marixa Lasso awarded the Friedrich Katz Prize

Panama, October 20, 2020 - Panamanian historian Marixa Lasso, Research Director at the Ministry of Culture was elected by the American Historical Association (AHA) for the Friedrich Katz Latin American and Caribbean History Award for his book Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal (Harvard Univ. Press, 2019).

According to the association's announcement "the names, publications and projects from which they have been given these premises represent best jobs produced in the discipline of history." The AHA offers annual awards for outstanding books, distinguished teaching and classroom mentoring, public history and other historic projects.

Lasso began his historic research more than 20 years ago and has been a teacher at international universities. In April of this year, this same work was awarded with the William M. LeoGrande Award, created to recognize the best research work about relations between the US and Latin America, while in 2019 she was selected as a member of the editorial committee of the Hispanic American Historical Review, a pioneer publication in the study of Latin American history and culture.

The Friedrich Katz Award for Latin American and Caribbean History was awarded to the best book about Latin American and Caribbean history published in English in 2019 and honors Friedrich Katz, a specialist in Latin American history born in Austria, whose nearly 50-year-old career inspired tens of students and colleagues in the field.

To Marixa Lasso it's a great joy and great pride that this book about the history of the Panama Canal written from the perspective and experience of Panamanian people get this recognition.