The award honours Dr Farouk for his outstanding contributions to promoting the Arabic language and culture in Europe and fostering intercultural dialogue across the Mediterranean.
A distinguished academic and cultural figure on the international stage, Dr Farouk has devoted his career to building bridges of understanding between East and West, advancing the values of dialogue, cooperation, and peace. The award embodies these very principles — peace, solidarity, and unity among the peoples of the Mediterranean.
“Dr Farouk’s work — rooted in knowledge, dialogue, and cooperation — reflects the values of peace, solidarity, and Mediterranean unity that the Award for Excellence seeks to celebrate,” the Union of Mediterranean Journalists said in its statement.
“This award means a great deal to me because it doesn’t belong to a single institution, language, or nation. It is the award of the sea — the same sea that Taha Hussein believed in — a sea of multilingual stories and diverse identities that together form the cradle of human civilisation,” Dr Farouk said, commenting on the recognition.
Held under the patronage of major Italian and European institutions, the Mediterranean Excellence Award is supported by the Union of Journalists (CUG) under the Ministry of Culture, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), the Italian Sports Press Union (USSI), the European Sports Journalists Association (AIPS Europe), and the Venetian Association of Rome.
The award ceremony will be attended by leading figures from Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Albania, Malta, the Vatican, and Italy, including diplomats, cultural figures, and artists.
This year’s laureates include several distinguished personalities from the worlds of culture, art, and sport, among them renowned Portuguese football coach José Mourinho, former manager of leading European clubs including Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Manchester United; Ignacio Piero Jiménez, Director of the Cervantes Institute; Moroccan designer Hania Harati; Tunisian visual artist Ilham Sbai Chaaban; Elena Medaković, Director of the Belgrade Museum; Albanian musician Olen Cesari; and acclaimed organist Josep Solé Coll.
In addition, Nicoletta Mantovani, President of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation, will receive a special commemorative award in honour of the late maestro.
Several members of the Italian judiciary will also be recognised for their dedication to justice, including Milan’s Public Prosecutor Marcello Viola, Judge Tamaro Maiello, and Martina Semenzato, President of the Parliamentary Committee on Femicide.
Since its inception, the Mediterranean Excellence Award has honoured a wide range of influential figures, including football legend Gianfranco Zola, actor Pino Insegno, filmmaker and comedian Paola Cortellesi, Fatiha El Moudni, Mayor of Rabat, Algerian director Rachid Benhadj, and Palestinian fashion designer Jamal Taslaq — a reflection of the award’s enduring international spirit and cross-cultural vision.
Short link: