Vietnamese astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan was granted the International Literary 2012 Award by The French Academy on June 6, for his efforts to popularise science.
This is the first such honour for a Vietnamese and the second for an Asian scientist.
Previously, The French Academy had announced that an overseas Vietnamese,
was the winner of the ‘Cino Del Duca World Prize 2012’, a major international literary award in
The Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca Award includes a cash prize of Euro 300,000 (around US$390,000). It will be officially given on June 6 at The French Academy, officially known as Institute de France, a French society that manages around 1,000 foundations, as well as museums, castles, and grants many annual awards and subsidies based on the recommendation of its five academies.
‘Cino Del Duca’ is an International Literary Award named after an Italian-born businessman, film producer and philanthropist who moved to
According to the Institute,
The
His writings include "The Birth of the Universe” in 1993, “The Secret Melody” (La Melodie Secrete) in 1994, “Chaos and Harmony” in 2000. “The Quantum and the Lotus” (Le Cosmos et le Lotus) in 2001 which he co-authored with French Buddhist monk and philosopher Matthieu Ricard was also helped him to gain Louis Pauwels 2012 Award.
Born in
Talking about the award, he stressed that it encouraged him to continue his cause of disseminating scientific knowledge.
Prof Thuan thinks that in a world increasingly dependent on science and technology, everybody needs to be equipped with basic knowledge to cogitate on the future of the Earth, a wonderful green planet for all of us.