Tchen Yu-chiou from Taiwan, Thilo Diefenbach from Germany and Charlotte Pollet from France are the winners of the 26th Taiwan-France Cultural Award, the Ministry of Culture announced Nov. 8 in Taipei City.
As a recipient of a Taiwan-France Special Contribution award, Tchen has promoted exchanges between the two countries for many years, the MOC said. After being awarded a First Prize diploma at the Paris Conservatory, she worked as a professor at National Taiwan Normal University’s Department of Music, where she promoted French classical music, and then as dean of NTNU’s College of Arts, where she created French courses, the ministry added.
According to the MOC, Tchen is the most decorated ROC (Taiwan) national in the EU member state, having earned the titles of knight of the National Order of Merit in 1996, knight of the Legion of Honor in 2008 and officer of Arts and Letters in 2009.
Diefenbach has been studying the country’s literary history since 2009, the MOC said, adding that he has published several articles on Taiwan and its literature in Hefte fur Ostasiatische Literatur magazine, for which he later became deputy editor.
Pollet is an associate professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University who has lived in Taiwan for 15 years and is a naturalized citizen, the MOC said. During her time in the country she founded PhiloZokids, a nonprofit organization created to develop a methodology for teaching philosophy to local children, the ministry added.
Established in 1996 by the MOC and the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques of the Institute de France, the annual award is presented to distinguished individuals or groups that have helped raise awareness of Taiwan in Europe or facilitated cultural exchanges. (DL-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw