The Prince Pierre Foundation was established on February 17th 1966 by HSH Prince Rainier III, in homage to the memory of his father, Prince Pierre, a great patron of literature and the arts.
Today Chaired by HRH Princess of Hanover, the Foundation aims to promote contemporary art. Each year, HSH The Sovereign Prince presents prizes on the proposal of three councils, literary, musical and artistic, composed of internationally renowned figures.
By law of February 17th 1966 HSH Prince Rainier III wanted to honor the memory of his father by combining the two prizes into a single foundation: The Prince Pierre Foundation of Monaco.
The Prince Pierre
Created in 1951, the Literary Prize honors on proposal of the Literary Council, a young french-speaking writer renowned for his overall work and on the occasion of one of his recent publications.
The Discovery Grant
Founded in 2001, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Literary Prize, this prize was initially awarded every two years. Now awarded annually, it recognizes a young author for his first french work of fiction.
High School Students Favorite Choice
Founded in 2007, this Prize is awarded by a jury of students of institutions of the Principality from a selection of books meeting the same criteria as those of the Discovery Grant.
Founded in 1960, it is assigned to a work of music created during the previous year. It is proposed by the Musical Council .
The Young Musicians Favorite Choice
In collaboration with the Academy of Music and Theatre in Monaco and with the support of the Princess Grace Foundation, The Prince Pierre Foundation of Monaco continues to work towards the creation of music with young audiences.
Awarded for the first time in 1965, the International Prize of Contemporary Art is organized by the Prince Pierre Foundation since 1983.
Since 2005, it rewards a contemporary work of art created during the previous two years by an emerging artist.
The Prize is awarded by the Arts Council, following an international consultation of experts.
In 1924, Prince Pierre founded in Monaco the Conference Society, which received amongst its first speakers Paul Valery, Darius Milhaud, Joseph Kessel and Sacha Guitry.
The Prince Pierre Foundation organizes each year, from January to March, a session of conferences that allows the public to attend to the interventions of renowned specialists in fields as diverse as news, arts, literature, history and science.
Thus intervened personalities like Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Maurice Bejart, Alain Decaux, Yves Coppens and Jean-Louis Debre.
Born in Kerscamp Castle (Morbihan) on October 24th1895, Prince Pierre was the son of Count Maxence de Polignac and the Comtesse Suzanne, born la Torre y Mier.
By his father, he was descended from an ancient family of Auvergne, who reigned almost supremely in the country of Puy-en-Velay and gave France ministers and generals of value. By his mother, he was connected with an equally ancient noble asturian family established in Mexico in the early nineteenth century.
The Prince Pierre gave up a diplomatic career to marry on March 19th 1920 The Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentino and daughter of Prince Louis II, then Hereditary Prince. By this marriage the Prince took the Name and Arms of The Grimaldi family. From this union were born: HSH Princess Antoinette and HSH Prince Rainier III.
In 1924, Prince Pierre founded a Society of Conferences in Monaco, which received in the Paul Valery as one of its first speakers.
It is also under the influence of Prince Pierre that The Monte Carlo Theatre hosted in 1922 the Russian Ballet Company of Serge Diaghilev and became one of the high places of dance.
After the succession of HSH Prince Rainier III, Prince Pierre was, for his son, a wise advisor concerning literature and the arts.
In 1951 a Literary Council was founded regrouping, along with members of the French Academy and the Academy Goncourt, foreign french speaking writers, and the first Rainier III Literary Prize rewarded the french work of an american writer Julien Green.
Similarly, the Rainier III Music Prize, established in 1960, encouraged musical compositions.
In 1957 Prince Pierre also assumed the Presidency of the National Commission of UNESCO and the Monegasque Olympic Committee. But it was for the children that Prince Pierre dedicated his last achievement by founding a library in 1960 to accommodate young readers and gave it the name of his grand-daughter, Princess Caroline.
Prince Pierre died in Paris, November 10th 1964. He was buried in Monaco in the old chapel of "La Paix" in the gardens of the Rocher he had so loved.
Her Royal Highness Princess of Hanover
Mr Jean-Charles Curau
Ms Carole Laugier
Director of Affaires Culturelles
M. Julian Anderson
Council Chair Musical
Ms Marie-Claude Beaud
Vice President the Arts Council
HE Mrs Audrey Azoulay,
General Manager of Unesco
Mr Vincent Vatrican
Director of Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco
Mr Jean-Philippe Vinci
SEM Federico Mayor
President of the Fundación Cultura de Paz
To give the public access to titles that had become unavailable due to print runs running out, in 1970 the Prince Pierre Foundation launched a collection consisting of reprints of one of the old works that each of its prize-winners wished to offer to his or her readers.
This limited edition, printed on ivory paper with a preface by one of the members of the Foundation, featured a reprint of a work by the writer who had won the prize. In 2007, the Grandes Traductions collection was launched, providing an opportunity to discover - or rediscover - previously untranslated or forgotten texts.
Ten years later, following in the footsteps of Prince Pierre, the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation decided to join forces with the Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco by helping to publish its publications, in particular the review "Les Ateliers", which brings together all the contributions made during the workshops organised by the Rencontres every year.