76 pupils honoured at Monaco language prize ceremony
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
The Mairie de Monaco hosted its annual Monégasque language competition awards on 17 June 2026, recognising 76 pupils from across the Principality's schools.
The Cour d'Honneur at the Mairie de Monaco filled with students and families on the evening of Wednesday 17 June 2026 for the prize-giving ceremony of the Concours de Langue Monégasque. Seventy-six pupils were recognised for their achievements in the competition, which is organised jointly by the Mairie, the Direction de l'Éducation Nationale, de la Jeunesse et des Sports (DENJS), and the Comité National des Traditions Monégasques.
Mayor Georges Marsan presided over the ceremony alongside members of the organising bodies. The annual competition is one of the few formal settings in which young people are tested on their command of Monégasque, the Principality's native Ligurian language, which the government has long sought to preserve through structured teaching in local schools.
With fewer than a few thousand fluent speakers remaining, initiatives like this competition carry real weight for the community. For Monaco families with children in the public school system, the awards evening represents one of the calendar's more quietly significant cultural moments.