Barbara Cassin Prize 2025 Award ceremony
On Friday 12 December 2025, the first Barbara Cassin Prize for Research and Translation was awarded to Anthony Mangeon, professor of Francophone literature at the University of Strasbourg, for his book ‘L'Afrique au futur. Le renversement des mondes’ (2022). This prize will enable the translation of the book by Dominic Thomas, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), an expert in contemporary African and European culture and politics and European affairs commentator for CNN International.
The prize is named after Barbara Cassin, a renowned specialist in the power of words and the force of language, member of the French Academy, and author of, among other works, the "Dictionary of Untranslatables: A Philosophical Lexicon" (2004, English version in 2014). Professor Cassin graced he ceremony with her presence, where she awarded this first edition of the prize.
The event was opened by Anaïs Hamelin, deputy vice-president for research in social sciences and humanities of the University of Strasbourg. After the presentation of the award, the laureate gave a short presentation about his book, followed by an exchange with Barbara Cassin that was moderated by Monica Manolescu (director of USIAS) and Victoire Feuillebois (deputy director of the MISHA). The discussion addressed the fundamental importance of language as a reservoir of values, culture and worldviews, and language as an essential element in not merely describing but actively shaping reality, and as an instrument of power. Professor Cassin reflected on the importance of maintaining the diversity of languages as a precious resource, and on the role of translation in an internationalised world that seems to be converging towards a simplified form of English (‘Globish’) as a means of communication.
The Barbara Cassin Prize for Research and Translation has been created by the Alsace Inter-University House for the Social Sciences and Humanities (MISHA) and the University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study (USIAS). It funds the translation into English of a recent monograph published in French by a researcher at the University of Strasbourg, and is awarded annually. Its aim is to support the visibility and international impact of research publications by the Strasbourg scientific community in the field of humanities and social sciences. The next call for applications for the 2026 edition of the prize was launched during the ceremony.
More information about the prize:
