French Academic Invented Fake Nobel-Style Philology Prize to Award Himself Gold Medal
- A French academic is facing scrutiny after allegedly inventing a Nobel-style prize in philology and awarding it to himself
- Florent Montaclair, from Besançon, staged ceremonies with ministers and Nobel laureates, but investigators say the award and its society were entirely fictional
- The case has raised serious questions about academic integrity and whether creating fake honours can amount to a crime
A French academic, Florent Montaclair, is under investigation after allegedly inventing a Nobel-style prize in philology so that he could award it to himself.
Montaclair, from Besançon in eastern France, received the Gold Medal of Philology in 2016 at a ceremony in Paris attended by ministers and Nobel laureates.
Source: Getty Images
According to BBC, however, investigators say the prize and the awarding body – the so-called International Society of Philology – were both fabrications created by Montaclair to boost his academic standing.
Philology is the study of language through texts. Montaclair, who taught at the university in Besançon for 20 years, has been suspended indefinitely while prosecutors examine whether any laws were broken.
"It's such an unlikely tale, it could be out of a film," said Paul-Edouard Lallois, the prosecutor leading the enquiry.
Timeline of the fictional award
- 2015: A local newspaper reported Montaclair was shortlisted for a Nobel Prize.
- December 2015: Reports claimed he had won.
- June 2016: Ceremony in Paris where Montaclair awarded himself the medal.
- Later in 2016: He presented an honorary medal to US philosopher Noam Chomsky in Brussels.
The International Society’s website listed laureates dating back to 1967, including Umberto Eco, but its amateur design raised doubts.
Fake credentials and fabricated university
Montaclair also claimed a doctorate from the University of Philology and Education in Lewes, Delaware – an institution that does not exist.
"The gold medal for philology is a pure creation of Mr Florent Montaclair, who awarded it to himself via the intervention of this learned society, which he himself had evidently created, and this university, which only exists on an internet site," said Lallois.
The deception began to unravel when Montaclair named Romanian philologist Eugen Simion as the next recipient. Romanian journalists investigated and exposed the fraud in 2019, though it went unnoticed in France until last year.
The scandal resurfaced when Montaclair was due to chair a debate on fake news, and colleagues recalled the Romanian reports.
Police investigation
When police searched his home in February this year, Montaclair reportedly said: "I suppose it's about the medal." He admitted ordering it from a jeweller for €250 (£215).
He defended himself, saying: "It's not a con. It's an attempt to set up a new distinction in the world of academia – an attempt that failed."
The prosecutor’s office must now decide whether inventing the honours artificially boosted Montaclair’s career. If not, proving criminal wrongdoing may be difficult.
Montaclair maintains that creating a worthless award is not against the law, and insists it was local media who wrongly described it as a Nobel.
Source: Getty Images
Trump accepts Nobel medal from Venezuelan Machado
Legit.ng earlier reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted a Nobel Peace Prize medal from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado during a White House meeting that placed Venezuela’s uncertain political future at the center of renewed attention in Washington.
The encounter, which lasted slightly over an hour, marked the first face to face meeting between Trump and Machado. A White House official confirmed that the president intends to keep the medal, which was presented as a symbolic gesture rather than a transfer of the Nobel honor itself.
Source: Legit.ng
