The 2020 Prince Pierre of Monaco Literary Prize list unveiled

Every year the Prince Pierre of Monaco Literary Prize, established by Prince Pierre of Monaco, honours a well-known author in the French language for their entire body of work to mark a recent publication.

The winner is selected by a literary council made up of members of the Académie Française, members of the Académie Goncourt and authors representing writing in the French language from other countries (Belgium, Canada, Congo, Switzerland, etc.). It is chaired by Princess Caroline of Hanover, President of the Prince Pierre Foundation.

Prince Pierre of Monaco, Duke of Valentinois, who was born Pierre de Polignac, was the husband of Hereditary Princess Antoinette, the daughter of Prince Louis II and mother of Prince Rainier III.

A friend of Marcel Proust, with whom he maintained correspondence that has recently been made public, Prince Pierre was the inspiration for the Count of Nassau character in In Search of Lost Time (also translated into English as Remembrance of Things Past). An advocate for literature and the arts, he headed Monaco’s delegation to UNESCO.

Today, the Prize is awarded by the Prince Pierre Foundation, which was established by Prince Rainier III in 1966 as a tribute to his father. In 2020, it was presented to Mathieu Belezi.

The Prince Pierre Foundation also awards a Musical Composition Prize and an International Prize of Contemporary Art.

Finally, the Foundation organises a series of conferences every year which give the public an opportunity to attend lectures by renowned experts in fields as varied as current affairs, the arts, literature, history and the sciences. Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Maurice Béjart, Yves Coppens and Karl Lagerfeld have all participated in previous events.