The Leeuwenhoek Medal, established in 1875 by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), in honor of the 17th- and 18th-century microscopist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, is granted every ten years to the scientist judged to have made the most significant contribution to microbiology during the preceding decade.[1] Starting in 2015, the Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology (KNVM) began awarding the Leeuwenhoek Medal, selecting Jillian Banfield, the first woman to receive the award in 2023.[2][3]
[...] een fonds bijeen te brengen voor een blijvend gedenkteeken ter eere van de nagedachtenis van LEEUWENHOEK, bestaande in eene gouden medaille, die LEEUWENHOEK-MEDAILLE zal genoemd en om de tien jaar aan dengene, Nederlander of Buitenlander, zal worden uitgereikt, die geacht zal worden in dat tijdsverloop, of vroeger, het meest ter vermeerdering onzer kennis der microscopische wezens te hebben bijgedragen. ([...] to raise a fund for a permanent memorial in honor of the memory of LEEUWENHOEK, consisting of a gold medal, which will be called LEEUWENHOEK MEDAL and will be awarded every ten years to the person, Dutch or Foreigner, who will be considered that lapse of time, or earlier, has contributed most to our knowledge of microscopic beings.)