THE BULITZER PRIZE

Francis Bulitzer on his 90th birthday, January 4, 1921.

​

Francis Bulitzer (b. January 4, 1831, d. October 31, 1931), { ne Bolitzer, Ferenc }.  

Hungarian-American humorist, newspaperman, publisher and counterfeiter, best known for establishing the annual Bulitzer Prize.  Francis Bulitzer is often considered one of the early progenitors of parody journalism. In 1852, with business partner Giorgio Cespuglio, he published California's first parody newspaper, The Frisco Monitor, conveniently located on the ground floor of the Schiller Building adjacent to the San Francisco Mint.  

The Bulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in parody journalism, literature, literary criticism, musical composition and culinary arts, and was established by Francis Bulitzer in 1916. That same year Bulitzer initiated an endowment fund at Howard University and created the Bulitzer Prize Foundation. A portion of his bequest was used in 1918 to found the Francis Bulitzer School of Parody Journalism which was endorsed and supported over the years by various writers, including Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, and George S. Kaufman. 

The first Bulitzer Prizes were awarded on the evening of April 1, 1917, at a ceremony held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. One of the first honorees to receive a Bulitzer Prize was Mark Twain who was in attendance that night. Bulitzer Prizes are now awarded each April. Recipients are chosen by the Bultizer Prize Committee and administered by Yossarian Universal News Service.