The winners of the 2026 Antonio Feltrinelli International Prizes are announced today; these are the highest honours awarded to celebrate excellence and moral, scientific and humanitarian impact on an international scale. The prizes, which are regarded as the Italian equivalent of the Nobel Prizes both for their remarcable institutional prestige and the significant financial reward guaranteed to the winners, will be officially presented on 12 June during a formal ceremony to be held in the presence of the President of the Republic. On this same occasion, all the other prizes awarded in the various categories will also be presented. This list of award winners highlights world-renowned institutions, associations and scientists who have left an indelible mark, both through humanitarian intervention in situations of severe crisis and through cutting-edge discoveries in science and culture.
«Antonio Feltrinelli» Prize for an exceptional undertaking of high moral and humanitarian value
all'Associazione Camminare insieme ODV di Torino
for the “Medicina senza Tetto” project, because it provides voluntary and free healthcare assistance to homeless people, people living in poverty, and migrants.
Extraordinary “Antonio Feltrinelli” Prize, awarded for an exceptional undertaking of high moral and humanitarian value in favor of the population of Gaza
to The Catholic Parish of the Holy Family of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
for providing the entire civilian population of Gaza with all kinds of aid, from educational to healthcare assistance.
International Antonio Feltrinelli» Prize for Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, awarded in the field of Chemistry
to Hiroaku Suga
for his pioneering research in the fields of biology and biotechnology as applied to RNA and peptides.
International “Antonio Feltrinelli” Prize for Medicine
to Marina Cavazzana
for her pioneering research in gene therapy for diseases of the hematopoietic system.
International “Antonio Feltrinelli” Prize for Moral and Historical Sciences, awarded in the field of Social Sciences
to WANG HUI
for his contribution to the understanding of the historical roots of Chinese modernity and for his critical analysis of globalization processes.
International “Antonio Feltrinelli” Prize for Moral and Historical Sciences, awarded in the field of Philology
to FURIO BRUGNOLO
for his scholarly activity, which stands out for its thematic breadth, continuity, and strong impact on the field of medieval and Romance studies.
The others Feltrinelli Prizes
«Antonio Feltrinelli» Prizes for Italian citizens:
Mathematics, Mechanics and Applications to Claudio CANUTO
for his contributions to the theory and practice of numerical methods for partial differential equations
Physics to Roberto MAIOLINO
for the study of the properties of galaxies and massive black holes over cosmic time.
Geosciences to Fabrizio NESTOLA
for his research into mineralogy under non-environmental conditions and for his innovative approaches to the study of inclusions in natural diamonds.
Biological sciences to Nicola SEGATA
for his scientific achievements in the field of microbial genomics and for being regarded as one of the pioneers of strain-level metagenomics.
“Antonio Feltrinelli Giovani” Prizes, reserved for Italian citizens who will not have reached the age of 40 by 31 October 2025:
Astronomy to Sirio BELLI
for his research into the role of ‘feedback’ in regulating the evolution of galaxies and his study of the phenomenon of ‘quenching’.
Geosciences to Luca SMERAGLIA
for the study of field faulting, fracturing and the cataclastic processes associated with recrystallisation.
Physics to Hannes PICHLER
for his pioneering contributions to theoretical physics at the interface between optics, quantum information and many-body phenomena.
Biological Sciences to Sara CARLONI
for his research in translational microbiology, focusing on the microbiota, the gut-brain axis and host-pathogen interactions.
for Information Sciences to Alessandro CHIESA
for the proposal and development of Succinct Argument Systems, which are of central importance to cryptography and system security.
History to Emilio ROSAMILIA
for his contributions to the history of the Greco-Roman world and for his studies on the history of Greek Cyrenaica.
for the Philosophical Sciences to Marcello IENCA
for his research into the ethical, legal, social and political implications of artificial intelligence, neuroscience and neurotechnology.
Legal Studies to Valerio BONTEMPI
for his pioneering research into the impact of new technologies on the workings of the public sector.
Social Scienced to Roberto CARDINALE
for his ability to analyse the complex interplay between public policy, social interests, research and technological innovation.
The other lincei prizes
National Prize of the President of the Republic for works or discoveries relating to the disciplines falling within the Class of Moral, Historical and Philological Sciences
to Roberto ESPOSITO
for his contribution to the critical re-examination of modern political categories.
Linceo Prize for the Linguistics
to Albio Cesare CASSIO
for his philological focus on Attic comedy and Aristophanes, and for his studies on the earliest history of the Greek language and its dialects.
Minister of Culture Award for Astronomy, Geodesy and Geophysics
to Raffaella SCHNEIDER
for his contribution to our understanding of the formation of the first stars, the first galaxies and black holes in the early billions of years of the Universe.