The Bonny Foundation's Prix de la Liberté 2024 has been awarded to «NZZ» journalist Katharina Fontana. The award ceremony took place in Berne on Thursday, in front of over 650 guests from the worlds of politics, business and culture.
Endowed with CHF 100,000, the Bonny Foundation's Prix de la Liberté was awarded this year to the well-known journalist from the French daily NZZ, Katharina Fontana.
In his eulogy, foundation vice-president Beat Brechbühl described her as an idealist of freedom, with courageous lines and lucid statements: «It is no coincidence that we are awarding the Prix de la Liberté to Katharina Fontana in this year dedicated to Kant, so rare has the triad of Kantian doctrine become in today's journalism: the Sapere aude (“Have the courage to use your own understanding!”) is struggling to hold its own in the battle for attention dictated by ratings.»
According to a Foundation press release, «the categorical imperative has been replaced by woke opinion journalism. And the epistemological synthesis “Thoughts without matter are empty; intuitions without concepts are blind” is in danger of sinking into a uniform mush... Katharina Fontana is back at the NZZ since 2021 as Senior Editor - not a sign of aging, but a distinction and clearly a pass to fundamental questioning, a pass into depth. She writes on many subjects, and does so with stylistic elegance and a particularly sharp pen. But above all, she argues with cold reason, where others cultivate sentimental indignation.»
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The Board of Trustees says it was «impressed by this rebellious character, this independence from fashion and the zeitgeist, as well as by this inner compass that points systematically towards freedom, personal responsibility and the Kantian virtues of discipline, diligence and modesty...».»
This prize should be a wake-up call to reason," insisted Beat Brechbühl:
«For common sense as a foundation.
For proportionality as a cornerstone.
For freedom as a perspective.»
About the Bonny Foundation for Freedom
The Foundation, which has no political affiliations, designates each year a personality or organization that has distinguished itself through its commitment to the maintenance of freedom. The Prix pour la Liberté, which has been awarded since 2013, is endowed with 100,000 Swiss francs. Past winners include Jérémie Bongiovanni, Nicolas Jutzet and Diego Taboada of Liber-thé, former Federal Councillor Kaspar Villiger, entrepreneur Franziska Tschudi Sauber, Locarno Film Festival President Marco Solari and professors Peter Gomez, Suzette Sandoz and Silvio Borner.
The Foundation, based in Berne, supports projects aimed at promoting the liberal social order and the market economy. In particular, it is one of the initiators of the «5vor12» deregulation prize, and supports the Wunsch-Schloss Thun and Youngpreneurs high school projects, as well as publications in the fields of health, media and energy, and other civil society activities.
Members of the Board of Trustees: Jean-Pierre Bonny (Chairman), Beat Brechbühl (Vice-Chairman), Gerold Bührer, Etienne Jornod and Beat Kappeler.
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