Hélène Carrère d'Encausse 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences

At its meeting in Oviedo, the Jury for the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, made up of María Paz Battaner Arias, Javier Echeverría Ezponda, Teresa Freixes Sanjuán, Juan Pablo Fusi Aizpurúa, Mauro Guillén Rodríguez, Silvia Iranzo Gutiérrez, Óscar Loureda Lamas, Ricardo Martí Fluxá, Manuel Menéndez Menéndez, Jaime Montalvo Correa, Jaime Pérez Renovales, Alejandro Portes, María Dolores Puga González and Fernando Vallespín Oña, chaired by Emilio Lamo de Espinosa Michels de Champourcin and with Marta Elvira Rojo acting as secretary, has decided to grant the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences to French historian Hélène Carrère d’Encausse.

Including research monographs, biographies and major essays on historical interpretation, the work of Hélène Carrère d’Encausse probably constitutes the most substantive contribution made in recent decades to our knowledge of the Soviet Union and Russia, an essential subject matter for understanding the contemporary world. In consonance with her historiographic specialization, she preferentially dealt with relations between the European Union and Russia when serving as a member of the European Parliament. She is also an elected member of the French Academy, as well as the first woman to serve as perpetual secretary, which she has done since 1999.

Hélène Carrère d’Encausse is one of the most brilliant, original and distinguished figures of French historiography and contemporary European thought.

Oviedo, 10th May 2023