The Erazm and Anna Jerzmanowski Prize, which was founded under the terms of the last will and testament of Erazm Jerzmanowski in 1908 was presented for the first time by the Academy of Arts and Science in 1915 and for the final time before World War II in 1938. It had a reputation as the ‘Polish Nobel Prize.’ The considerable reserve of capital from which the prize was paid ceased to exist as a result of the war, and the prize was not reactivated after the conflict had ended.   
That it was revived in 2008, on the one-hundredth anniversary of its establishment, was thanks to the goodwill of Małopolska Voivodship and to Voivodship Marshal Marek Navara in particular.
It was awarded for the first time after World War II on 9 February 2009 – almost exactly on the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of Erazm Jerzmanowski (7 February 1909). The prize is awarded  in the Senatorial Hall of the Royal Castle at Wawel and is regarded as conferring a great deal of prestige.