The jury for the Max Gallo Prize has shortlisted four books for the second edition of this literary award created by the city of Nice. The winner’s name will be announced on December 12, during a ceremony at the Villa Masséna.
The Max Gallo Prize proceeds with its second edition. The jury, chaired by Emmanuel de Waresquiel, a member of the Institut and the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, convened to designate the finalists. Eight novels and historical narratives made up the initial list. Four titles were retained after deliberations.
The finalists are as follows:
– Jacques de Saint-Victor, Les loups de Tanger (Calmann-Lévy).
– Alexandra Lapierre, L’ardente et très secrète Miles Franklin (Flammarion).
– Pierre Assouline, L’annonce (Gallimard).
– Catherine Clément, Païenne (Seuil).
The winner’s name was to be announced on December 12, during an official ceremony organized at the Villa Masséna, a symbolic place that hosts events related to literature and history every year.
The jury is composed of Emmanuel de Waresquiel and six other members, mostly from the fields of letters and humanities. Maryvonne de Saint Pulgent, Marielle Gallo, Henri-Christian Giraud, Didier Le Fur, Jérémy Guedj, and Pascal Ory from the Académie Française made up this panel.
This second edition is part of a dynamic initiated in 2024. The prize was created to honor the memory of Max Gallo, a writer, historian, and academician who passed away in 2017. Nice wishes to maintain a connection with the legacy of an author attached to its territory.
Paying Tribute to a Writer Linked to Nice
Max Gallo was born in Nice in 1932. He grew up in a family of Italian descent from Piedmont. His journey was marked by local history. He taught at the Lycée Masséna and at the university. The author also paid tribute to the city that welcomed his parents in his saga La Baie des Anges, published in 1976.
His work was extensive. Historian, essayist, novelist, he devoted many books to major periods and figures of history. He published well-documented biographies. Napoleon, de Gaulle, Caesar, Victor Hugo, Louis XIV, Jesus, Francis I, Machiavelli and Savonarola, Richelieu, Charlemagne, and even Henry IV were subjects of his research.
He also recounted the two world wars. World War I with 1914, le destin du monde and 1918, la terrible victoire. World War II with 1940, de l’abîme à l’espérance and 1944-1945, le triomphe de la liberté. He also authored 1917: Une passion russe, dedicated to the Russian Revolution. His memoirs, L’oubli est la ruse du diable, were published in 2012. They read: “And everything for me—my life, life, war, History—was a novel, intersections of individual adventures.” These words often accompanied tributes to the writer.
He was elected to the Académie Française on May 31, 2007. His name remained associated with a dense trajectory marked by writing, public engagement, and transmission.
A Look Back at the First Edition of the Prize
The first edition of the Max Gallo Prize honored Michel Moatti. The author received the prize for Darwin, le dernier chapitre. The novel traced the expedition of the HMS Beagle and the meeting between Charles Darwin and Captain FitzRoy.
The jury, chaired by Emmanuel de Waresquiel, already included writers and historians. Marielle Gallo, Maryvonne de Saint Pulgent, Henri-Christian Giraud, Jérémy Guedj, and Pascal Ory were already members. The official award ceremony was also scheduled at the Villa Masséna, in the presence of municipal officials.
Michel Moatti’s book relied on Robert FitzRoy’s logbooks and Darwin’s writings. It immersed readers in the world of the famous expedition ship. The author described the mission that began in 1831. He recounted the encounter between the young naturalist and his captain. This expedition played an important role in the history of science. The observations reported by Darwin would transform the understanding of life.
