UCL professor Mariana Mazzucato receives the 2019 Madame de Staël Prize

Economist Mariana Mazzucato was awarded the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values in Bern yesterday to honour her wide-ranging and stimulating work in the field of political economy and particularly her original contributions to understanding the role of the state in innovation. The Prize, endowed with €20,000, is supported by the foundation Compagnia di San Paolo.Mazzucato is the sixth scholar to receive this prize, which was established in 2014 to commemorate a deep-rooted understanding of European culture as connected by an inherent diversity supported by a dynamic and vigorous intellectualism. She expressed her gratitude to be honoured by this Prize. 

“I am honoured to receive the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values. I was born in Italy and have been living in the UK for the last 20 years---I feel 100% European! My work has tried to help rethink the role of the state in capitalism, in co-creating markets not only fixing them—and in the process contest the narrow way in which economics measures value. My current work on mission oriented innovation is aimed at helping the direction of innovation fuel new solutions to grand challenges—from climate change to inequality. Having this work recognised through this esteemed prize is a true privilege”, she said.

Antonio Loprieno, ALLEA President and chairman of the Prize jury, praised the distinctive career of Mazzucato. “Her scholarly work is characterised by both ingenuity and vision. With a thorough and incisive analysis, she has dug into the understanding of innovation, shedding light on the interplay between the state, business and research in our modern economy. Reminiscent of the critical mind shown by Madame de Staël, the jury honours Mazzucato as an outstanding scholar who is both helping to shape new narratives for Europe while strengthening our common values.”

The award ceremony took place on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, during a solemn session hosted by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Humanities at the University of Bern. Mazzucato received the prize from the hands of Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin. The ceremony was introduced by Francesco Profumo, President of the Compagnia di San Paolo, and Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Research Council, who delivered the laudatory speech.

This release was first published 9 May 2019 by ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities.