Makram Abbes receiving his award. Photo Antoine Meyssonier©

The 2015 Ibn ?Khaldoun-Léopold Sédar Senghor Translation Award in Humanities, which aims at ?promoting cultural and linguistic diversity as well as encouraging literary exchanges between the ?Arab and the Francophone worlds, has been attributed to Makram Abbès for his translation, from Arabic to French, of the work De l’Ethique du Prince et du gouvernement de l’État de Al-Mâwardî (Les Belles Lettres, 2015).

The jury unanimously praised the quality of this translation, which outlines the political theories of Al-Mâwardî (10th-11th centuries) in a clear and modern style. "The translator was able to bring to light the legacy of a political and humanist thought that gives this work its importance in today's debates," the jury found. Professor at the ENS de Lyon, researcher at the Triangle laboratory and junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France, Makram Abbès focuses his research on Islamic moral and political philosophy.

Makram Abbès received his Award during a ceremony held at the Institut du Monde arabe in Paris on November 13. Before the ceremony, a roundtable was held to discuss translation as a tool for intercultural communication.