London ? Academic T.J. Binyon has won Britain’s richest nonfiction prize for his biography of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

Binyon, 63, won the Samuel Johnson Prize, worth $48,000, for his book “Pushkin.”

“T.J. Binyon’s biography of Pushkin is the product of the author’s years of dedication to his subject,” said Conservative Party lawmaker Michael Portillo — a member of the five-member judging panel — as he announced the prize at a ceremony Monday in central London.

The Samuel Johnson Prize is open to English-language books in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts.

Binyon is a modern languages specialist at Oxford University.