L’Aquila, Italy — 22 December 2025 — The Cardinal Jules Raymond Mazarin International Prize for Politics and Diplomacy has reached its second edition. For the year 2025, the Prize is awarded to His Excellency Maurizio Enrico Luigi Serra, ambassador, diplomat, writer, and Immortel of the Académie française.
Following its inaugural edition in 2024, during which the Prize was conferred upon Professor Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio and President of the Dante Alighieri Society, the award continues to affirm its international vocation. The 2024 ceremony took place at the historic Mazarin House Museum in Pescina, in the presence of regional and local authorities, diplomatic representatives, and leading figures from the cultural world.
Ambassador Maurizio Serra has enjoyed a long and distinguished diplomatic career, holding senior positions within Italian diplomatic missions abroad and serving at major multilateral institutions. Alongside his diplomatic service, he has developed a significant body of essayistic and biographical work of European scope, establishing himself as one of the most authoritative voices in the contemporary international cultural landscape. His publications include L’Imaginifico. Life of Gabriele D’Annunzio, which was awarded the Prix Goncourt for Biography.
The Prize was established by the Abruzzo Regional Government under Regional Law No. 4/2024, at the initiative of Regional Councillor Antonietta La Porta, and is intended to honour international figures who have made outstanding contributions to dialogue among peoples, international cooperation, and diplomatic relations. The award draws inspiration from Jules Raymond Mazarin, a seventeenth-century statesman born in Pescina and Prime Minister at the court of Louis XIV of France, renowned for his role as a mediator and peacemaker, notably as an architect of the Peace of Westphalia (1648).
For the 2025 edition, the Prize Jury, chaired by journalist Alina J. Di Mattia and composed of representatives of regional institutions, journalism, culture, and academia, unanimously decided to confer the award upon Maurizio Serra, recognising the exceptional value of his contribution to contemporary diplomacy and his commitment to culture as a fundamental instrument of international understanding and dialogue.
The Prize Committee, established pursuant to Regional Law No. 4/2024 and chaired by Antonietta La Porta, also expressed great satisfaction with the decision. The Committee includes prominent representatives of regional and local institutions, among them the President of the Abruzzo Regional Council, Lorenzo Sospiri, an active promoter of the Prize, as well as the Mayor of Pescina, Mirko Zauri, and representatives of the Mazarin House Museum.
The awarding of the Cardinal Jules Raymond Mazarin International Prize to Ambassador Maurizio Enrico Luigi Serra confirms the Prize’s mission to honour individuals who, through diplomacy and cultural engagement, contribute to the construction of an international order based on solidarity, dialogue, and mutual respect. His election as one of the forty Immortels of the Académie française further attests to the international prestige of his intellectual and diplomatic commitment.
The official award ceremony will take place on 31 January 2026 at 11:30 a.m., at the Mazarin House Museum, Piazza Rancilio, Pescina (Italy).