MEDITERRANEAN AWARDS

In 1996, the Fondazione Mediterraneo instituted the Mediterranean Awards (with various categories) that are granted every year to eminent personalities from the worlds of arts and culture, politics and science and social disciplines, whose actions have contributed to reducing tensions, breaking down cultural barriers and developing shared values in the Greater Mediterranean.

This Award is considered one of the most prestigious acknowledgements in the world.

Various events are associated with the Mediterranean Award, such as the “Euro-Mediterranean Concert for Dialogue Among Cultures” and the “Epiphany Concert” (organized by the Cultural Centre “Oltre il Chiostro” in collaboration with the Fondazione Mediterraneo. The latter event is broadcast by RaiUno and Rai International throughout the world every year on the morning of January 6th).

 

 

2002 (EN)

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06 October 2010
Parent Category: Iniziative (EN) - Category: Mediterranean Awards

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR PEACE
to the memory of MARIAGRAZIA CUTULI and JULIO FUENTES. Journalists killed in Afghanistan - War correspondents, ITALY-SPAIN

War. Tangle of wrongs and passions, of infamy and greatness. Like a tear in the fabric that – millennium after millennium since the first ancestors at the beginning of the reflection and consciousness which established rules and laws to curb instinct, repress egoism, find a conception of good, link people in mutual aid with general and shared values and made us less transient in the large sea of being, thanks to the persisting trace – hardly renews in the present, perpetuates in the future and marks an identity higher than the biological one. A tear in which, in the struggle of a force against another, the tragically constructed civilization becomes somehow uncertain and sometimes wavering. And there they were, without hatred or partisanship, to witness courage and cowardice, examples of compassion or abuses, of generosity and baseness, without prejudice in search of the truth that each fighter distorts. There, to found on that truth a better understanding of both parts, of the suffering of both, to challenge the opposing beliefs and lay the foundations of a new agreement so as to put an end to hostilities and establish a new, possibly fairer, peace. For this understanding, for this better and more human future, they were there: determined, sparing no pains, without escaping risk. Without any support, except for the distant support from their newspapers which had entrusted them with a mission more difficult than fighting, almost always more obscure. There, unarmed among armed people, serene among passions, courageous without boldness, more determined than fighters. There, always ahead where the battle is raging, convinced and determined. Until the sacrifice, just like Maria Grazia Cutuli and Julio Fuentes whose mutilated bodies and broken mobile phone were brought back to us. But their voice we gather here and their message we repeat in their name are not broken.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR DIPLOMACY
NEHAD ABDEL LATIF
Egyptian Ambassador to Italy, EGYPT

In a long and patient process he has built the bases for a strong Egyptian-Italian dialogue by solidifying the knowledge of the societies living on the two shores of the Mediterranean. He was one of the protagonists of the 2 nd Euromed Civil Forum of Naples In 1997, giving a constructive contribution for the cultural, economic and social cooperation. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to Nehad Abdel Latif the Mediterranean Award for Diplomacy 2002.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR ISTITUTIONS
ANTONIO BASSOLINO
President of Regione Campania, ITALY

As Governor of the Region, he instituted a Department for the Relations with the Mediterranean Countries. Symbol and warning of a policy that, being aware of the turn of the millennium, has realized that Naples, Campania and Italy itself have no future outside the tissue where along centuries has been constructed, among clashes and encounters, exchanges and unions, a great and specific Euro- Mediterranean unity, to which the whole Europe should turn again so as to reinforce and develop the values on which it has constructed its own identity and resulting from the syntheses occurred in the Mediterranean.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR ART AND CREATIVITY
MONI OVADIA
Singer, actor, ISRAEL

The search for novelty in life, custom and thought, which has been the dynamic force of the West since its first establishment, has frantically accelerated towards “modernity”. With regard to the societies which have rigorously maintained their traditions as concepts and custom as well as social order and even the forms of art, literature and language, “modernity” has an impact giving rise to a turbulence which – unlike invasions and wars that are suddenly upsetting but rapidly subsiding – can hardly calm down since “modernity” is violently confronted to convictions and habits, so it upsets well‑established economies, imposes to break the fabric in which everyone is contained but sure, blocked but steady, it liberates the individual and pushes him towards perspectives launched over nothingness. A deep, unprepared and unexpected break, giving rise to hopes that are not realized, bearing an illegible message. In the entire non-Western World, particularly in the Islamic World which in this situation cannot even find the promises of Greek philosophy that had nourished the West and that Islam itself had in part given back to it by Its falsafa, the consequences of that impact are overwhelming, they provoke oppositions which rigidly cling to the past. Facing such a great preclusion and violence, it is very difficult to try to promote mutual understanding and start a dialogue. It is with this aim that Moni Ovadia has dedicated, with passion and endurance, his constant work of research and invention to the revival and re-interpretation of ancient Sephardic and Arabic songs from the XIII and XIV century, recalling the common roots of those cultures that are today taken as ground for confrontation by peoples who, instead, cannot attain their renaissance without new cooperation and harmony.

Awarding Ceremony
Naplesi, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR MEDIA
VITTORIO NISTICO'
Journalist, ITALY

Journalism follows and tells everyday and historical events. It is rare for a newspaper to enter history becoming an Integral part of It. This is the case of “L’Ora”, prestigious newspaper of Palermo and Italy, during the long season when it was directed by Vittorio Nisticò. It is an example in the history of Italian and Mediterranean journalism. By his recent book “It happened in Sicily: the roaring years of Palermo newspaper ‘L’Ora’“, published by Sellerio, Nisticò reports on crucial events in Sicily as well as on the story of the newspaper and of its extraordinary community of journalists trained with Integrity and courage and with a hunger for the truth.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR MEDIA
EL MUNDO
National Neewspaper, SPAIN

Journalism has become an essential need to us. It involves, among other things, effort and sacrifice. Sometimes sacrifice goes to the extreme and deserves our deepest appreciation. This Award to “El Mundo” is the expression of our acknowledgment to a newspaper which, through the recent sacrifice of Julio Fuentes, has demonstrated how difficult it is to satisfy a priority need of our world: to be informed, which means above all awareness in transparency.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR MEDIA
CORRIERE DELLA SERA
National Newspaper, ITALY

Following the tradition of journalists like Albertini, the Corriere della Sera has been able to maintain a balanced stance among opposing passions and ideologies so as to represent the events in a more objective light which not only helps to better understand such events but also to make a constructive reflection on them. To achieve this aim, correspondents have travelled across the world, sometimes without coming back, and a great contribution has also been given by the editorial staff with its constant, patient, unanimous and anonymous work.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD "SILVER DOLPHIN"
to the memory of MARCELLO GIGANTE
Professor, expert in papyrus, ITALY

In the transformation period started after the second world war, Marcello Gigante, Iike Carducci in his time, gave voice to the relation between ancient culture and modern conscience, reconsidering the text of Herodotus and interpreting the historical lines of the classic world in the mark of the Nomos Basileus, the sovereignty of the law. Translator of Diogenes Laertius and Director of the collections “La Scuola di Platone” and “La scuola di Epicuro”, he deepened the study of ancient philosophy, in particular of Epicurus and Philodemus of Gadara, through the study of Herculaneum papyri. His essays on Leopardi, Settembrini, Quasimodo and on the classical culture of the period between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are focused on the relation between ancient and modern time. He was editor of “Parola del Passato”, director of the “Studi di Filologia Classica”, National President of the Italian Association of Classical Culture. His publications, more than 700, have always contained highly significant descriptions and views. Among his works, it is worth remembering: “Le Elleniche di Ossirinco”, “Nomos Basileus”, “Civiltà delle forme letterarie nell’antica Pompei”, “Classico e mediazione”. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed To the memory of Marcello Gigante the Mediterranean Award “Delfino d’Argento” 2002.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD "SILVER DOLPHIN"
to the memory of PAOLO BUFALINI
Senator of the Italian Republic, ITALY

History has known more than one personalities who, though without media renown, have played an extraordinary role in the political events that mark the life of a State. Paolo Bufalini belongs to this gallery: for the contribution given during the 30’s to the creation of one of the most important and active anti-fascist groups, the Roman one, also because he gathered young intellectuals who later on played an important role on the political and intellectual scene of the post-war period, for the contribution given to the Italian resistance in Yugoslavia; as animator, after the liberation, of the Autonomist Southern Movement, in Sicily and in the South, struggling for Agrarian Reform and modernization of the Country; as a strong and wise mind In the action for the renewal of P.C.I., the unity of the left party, the convergences among all democratic forces. He dealt with all these issues with a high vision of politics, always overcoming the class and party borders, like a Cavour-style statesman. This is the framework in which falls the exceptional work made by Bufalini in drafting a foreign policy of détente, of understanding of the other’s reasons, of friendship among the peoples of the Mediterranean; the activities aiming at guaranteeing religious peace and Improving relations between the Italian State and the Vatican, through the renewal of the Concordat. And he did so as a laic, persuaded that only a lay State and the respect of the religious conscience of the Individual and of the communities can defeat the fundamentalism that has blooded the word for centuries, until today. Bufalini was also a serious specialist in Greek and Latin and a careful and acute translator of Horace, thus telling us that the mingling of culture and politics is vital and necessary to make noble and effective public commitment, to improve one’s country and the mutual knowledge of peoples.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2002

 

 

INTERANATIONAL AWARD LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO
INT. HOTEL NUIT
Best short‑filmby Swiss director Elena Hazanov
 

A film offering several interpretations in its short running time. From the reversal of man‑woman role to the confrontation between two cultures, to the conflict between language and body. The narration has a light touch and a deep irony. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to Elena Hazanov the International Award Laboratorio Mediterraneo 2002.

Awarding Ceremony
Trieste, 24 January 2002

 

 

2001 (EN)

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06 October 2010
Parent Category: Iniziative (EN) - Category: Mediterranean Awards

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR PEACE
LEAH RABIN
ISRAEL

Leah Rabin was a great woman from Israel: a woman who fought for peace, with clear and sincere thoughts, with her hope for a better future and her contagious optimism. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to Leah Rabin the Mediterranean Award for Peace 2001.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2001

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR CULTURE
H.E. CARDINALE ROGER ETCHEGARAY
ITALY

Following Pope John Paul II’s recommendations, he launched a dissemination process for dialogue among religions and cultures. He accomplished this through liturgy but also through well chosen new technologies and channels of new communication and information. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to H.E. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray the Mediterranean Award for Culture 2001.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2001

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR ART AND CREATIVITY
NOA e NABIL
Singers, ISRAEL-PALESTINE

In a delicate moment of the relations between Israeli and Palestinian peoples, Noa and Nabil, two of the most famous Middle-Eastern musicians – Noa Israeli and Nabil Palestinian – have chosen to perform together, testifying the need of dialogue to settle conflicts. Noa and Nabil are strongly related by a common action expressed by the musical projects of the two groups arising from the wish of encounter. Radiodervish music (from “dar” “wish”: visitors of power) comes from Nabil’s will to combine the sonority of melody with the roots of Arab tradition. The rhythm – universal language – is the focus of the music of Noa, daughter of Israel grown in the Bronx, while her jazz training is the background of her songs. Noa’s and Nabil’s commitment for peace is the primary aim of their art, constantly pursued by both of them and recognized by their respective peoples. Recent history has abruptly put Israel and Palestine at the centre of international attention. Both populations are paying a very high price in terms of human lives and the peace process appears, day after day, farther and farther. That’s why any action aiming at promoting dialogue and cooperation between the two peoples is now indispensable and in this process the joint action undertaken by Noa and Nabil assumes an important and significant value. For these reasons, Fondazione Mediterraneo and Accademia del Mediterraneo grant to Noa and Nabil the Mediterranean Art and Creativity Award 2001, in acknowledgment of their will and ability to use the universal language of music as a peace tool.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 4 January 2001

 

 

INTERNATIONAL AWARD LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO
PAD / LA CADUTA
Best short‑film by Czech director Aurel Klimt
 

The Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed the International Award Laboratorio Mediterraneo 2001 to Aurel Klimt for his remarkable animation work containing a dramatical subject in a funny and folkloristic frame.


Awarding Ceremony
Trieste, 24 January 2001

 

 

2000 (EN)

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06 October 2010
Parent Category: Iniziative (EN) - Category: Mediterranean Awards

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR MEDIA
IGOR MAN
Journalist, ITALY

During the solemn "rentrée" of the United States of the World, a ceremony was held to present the "Mediterranean Information Award" to journalist Igor Man, one of the most important experts on the Arab world. On this occasion, the decree of appointment as "Ambassador of the United States of the World" was handed over.

Awarding Ceremony
Marseille, 5 July 2000

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR PEACE
to the memory of H.M. HASSAN II
King of MOROCCO

Morocco, though having most of its coasts on the Atlantic, is truly Mediterranean. Not only because the Moroccan coast facing the Mediterranean extends from Tangier to Oujda, but also because Moroccan culture is founded on that humanism which has made man the measure of the world: a universal humanism, as emphasized by many thinkers and artists. From the high of Tangier a blue line separates the waters of the Ocean from those of the Mediterranean; and the latter seem to venture to the Atlantic in search of other continents to be fecundated by Mediterranean culture and ancient traditions. This line of demarcation – in the Koran Marajou AI Bahrein – is the strong representation of the attitude of Mediterranean genius to transmit our ancient immortal culture to the whole world: an attitude that H.M. Hassan II has constantly nourished, since His accession to the throne, continuing the action for national unity started by His father Mohammed V. His great merit was to support the democratization process towards which he wisely oriented His Country: this achievement will remain in history the main pillar in His political career. By accepting this challenge, He belied all those who argued that there was an absolute structural incompatibility between Islam and Democracy. By instituting for the first time in the Arab world and on the Southern shore of the Mediterranean the system of alternating democracy, H.M. Hassan II offered an example of pride and hope not only to the Moroccan people but also to all Arab and Muslim peoples. “Your Majesty, in a moment when the highest minds of the Mediterranean give You this Award, we join them, being sure that this high acknowledgement is not only conferred on the most important representative of Maghreb world but also on all Maghreb peoples who, thanks to Your action, may hope in a future founded on peace and on the respect of different identitie".

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 5 January 2000

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR CULTURE
REPUBLIC OF MALTA
MALTA

The Republic of Malta is a unique example in the Mediterranean. History and culture of Maltese islands are mingled with those of Europe and of the Mediterranean across the centuries, since the prehistoric period, when the archipelago was part of a vast territory extending from Northern Africa to Europe. Megalithic monuments, erected at Xaghra, are considered the most ancient in the world: Ggantilia temples, built around 300 B.C., before Egyptian pyramids. Later on Malta was ruled by various peoples among which Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs: a mingling of knowledge, religions, traditions and destinies which make this island in the middle of the Mediterranean a priceless cultural heritage. However, those who left a decisive mark were the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, by chasing off the Turks of Solyman the Magnificent and turning the island into a true cultural deposit. Today the Republic of Malta has undertaken the journey towards Europe. Prof. Guido de Marco is one of the authors of this process. Foreign Minister for a long period and today President of the Republic, he has been able to embody the three Mediterranean “Forces”, showing in his action the experience of a political man as well as that of man of culture and economics. Today this global vision enables the Republic of Malta, under the leadership of President de Marco, to play an important role in the cultural, social and economic partnership between the European Union and Mediterranean Countries: a vital function for the future of the Region and for the preservation of its ancient culture in a period in which the risks of flattening deriving from the globalisation process are well known by everybody.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 5 January 2000

 

 

PREMIO INTERNAZIONALE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO
LENDULET / MOMENTO
Best short‑film by Hungarian director Imre Juhàsz

 The Prize was awarded to “Lendulet” because among the different heterogeneous competing works, the film stood out for the quality of sound, photography and the narrative technique chosen. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to Imre Juhàsz the International Award Laboratorio Mediterraneo 2000.

Awarding Ceremony
Trieste, 22 January 2000

 

 

1999 (EN)

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toni | 06 October 2010
Parent Category: Iniziative (EN) - Category: Mediterranean Awards

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR PEACE
LAMBERTO DINI
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic

Minister Dini guided the Italian action aimed at preparing and holding the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial meeting on 3rd and 4th June 1998 in Palermo, which restored confidence in the principles and intervention programme set forth in the Barcelona Declaration of 28th November 1995. While reaffirming the absolute priority of Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for the regional promotion of an area of peace and shared prosperity, the message coming from Palermo showed, as guideline, the supportive commitment to contrast and remove the causes of instability of political, economic, social and cultural nature. Minister Dini, by asserting the concept of global stability, contributed to the acceptation of this guideline in an action able to accelerate the efforts for a rapid conclusion of a Euro-Mediterranean Charter for peace and stability. Strictly in accordance with this objective, he supported, as a protagonist, the re-launching of dialogue with Libya also in view of favouring the conditions for revoking the sanctions adopted by the Security Council against this Country. It is important for the dialogue to be carried on patiently by all Parties and deepened with the highest mutual comprehension, wishing to fully involve Libya in the efforts to strengthen peace and stability in the region. In the same spirit as in Palermo and in support of the search for a general pacification of the Mediterranean, the visit made in July 1998 to Algiers gave an important contribution, by testifying the existence of a dialogue for a closer cooperation with a Country so hardly affected by a tragic terrorist violence.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples 5 January 1999

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR CULTURE
H.M. HUSSEIN BIN TALAL
King of the Hashemite Kingdom of JORDAN

During 46 years of Reign, His Majesty King Hussein bin Talal worked relentlessly for a long-lasting peace and for the development of mutual comprehension and respect between the people of Jordan and the rest of the Middle East. In addition, he worked to attain a level of cultural tolerance and comprehension, free artistic expression and exchange between different cultures and religions, supporting national and international prestigious artists and intellectuals to practise their culture and creativity without restraint. Through local and International cultural festivals, exhibitions, meetings, scholarships and training programmes, the Government and private organizations have always been encouraged to support the free expression of traditional and contemporary culture, art and literature in all their forms, as well as establishing and maintaining relations between local communities and famous national and international artists for a free exchange of ideas and cultural expressions that can one day be the foundations for a world of peace and cooperation for future generations. His Majesty King Hussein is the author of a ‘culture of peace’ in the Arab World: for these reasons the Fondazione Mediterraneo, with the Accademia del Mediterraneo, has granted to H.M. King Hussein bin Talal the Mediterranean Award for Culture 1999.

Awarding Ceremony
Naples, 5 January 1999

 

 

INTERNATIONAL AWARD LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO
UN ACCENTO PERFETTO
Best short‑film by Italian director Nicola Sornaga

 Extremely high and interesting short‑film which, through its manipulations, its blending of arts and genres, tries to express what cannot be expressed. This work draws an unknown reality and wises up to original rips of the present world. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to Nicola Sornaga the Mediterranean International Award Laboratorio Mediterraneo 1999.

Awarding Ceremony
Trieste, 24 January 1999

 

 

1998 (EN)

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toni | 06 October 2010
Parent Category: Iniziative (EN) - Category: Mediterranean Awards

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR PEACE
KIRO GLIGOROV
President of the Republic of Macedonia

A great figure of European anti-fascism and of the war of liberation in the Balkans, Gligorov is the political man who, by his action and prestige within the Yugoslav Federation, has managed to contain a tragic downfall of other similar regimes in Europe. In his acts and writings he has always defended the principles of human rights, of the equality of citizens, of a democratic expression even when these points of view were absolutely a minority. Under his leadership, Macedonia has fully participated in the spirit and practice of European agreement becoming the cornerstone of a policy aiming at the integration of South-Eastern Europe into the framework of European Union. This Award is meant to acknowledge the clear views, the political consistency and determination, as well as the courage always shown by Gligorov, since the constitution of the new post-war Yugoslav situation, in affirming the same fundamental ideas even when they were not in accordance with current policy. Ideas and principles of which he and his Country have become an example.

Awarding Ceremony
Napoli, 5 January 1998

 

INTERNATIONAL AWARD LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO
MOJA DOMOVMA
best short-film by jugoslavian director Milos Radovic'

 Moja Domovma by Milos Radovic (Federal Republic of Jugoslavia) represents an ironical and grotesque picture of the present reality of ex-Jugoslavia. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to Milos Radovic the International Award Laboratorio Mediterraneo 1998.

Awarding Ceremony
Trieste, 18 January 1998

   

 

MEDITERRANEAN AWARD FOR CULTURE
H.M. JUAN CARLOS I
King of Spain

He has been able to use the monarchy as a tool of a secure and flourishing transition. With discretion and determination he has pushed hard reintegration of Spain in the concert of a renovated Western world by suggesting with the diversity of the policies the unity of the final outcome and the balance of the autonomies and the respect of the different Iberian cultures, as well as solidarity among people who have been tied by a common history in the past centuries. For this reason the Fondazione Mediterraneo attributed to H.M. Juan Carlos I the Mediterranean Award for Culture 1998.

Awarding Ceremony
Palermo, 1 October 1998

 

 

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