Foundation Prize
Laureate 2020
Patrick Chappatte
2020 Prize awarded to Patrick Chappatte, Press Cartoonist
Wednesday 28th October 2020 at 18:30, Victoria Hall, Geneva
In 2020, the Foundation Board decided to reward Patrick Chappatte, a renowned cartoonist advocating for the freedom of expression and of the press, with the Fondation pour Geneve prize for his unique and considerable contributions to Geneva.
Patrick Chappatte obtained international esteem by publishing his drawings in highly prestigious newspapers such as the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. His critical approach to reality invokes thought amongst his readers and holds the capacity to transcend boundaries and languages.
Due to the ongoing health crisis, the 27th awarding ceremony was streamed. The footage was uploaded to the Fondation pour Genève website, as well as on the Léman Bleu.
Lauréat 2020
Patrick Chappatte was born in Pakistan in 1967 and raised by a Lebanese mother and Swiss father. He grew up in Singapore, and settled down in Geneva, where he lived out the early days of his career before drawing for Hebdo, la Tribune de Genève, and Die Weltwoche. In 1995, Chappatte started working for the International Herald Tribune, and later for the New York times. On three separate counts, he won the Overseas Press Club of America’s Thomas Nast Award for the best cartoons regarding international affairs, making him the first Swiss to receive this prestigious reward (2012, 2015, and 2018). Now, he draws editorial cartoons for Le Temps, the NZZ am Sonntag (Zurich), Der Spiegel (Germany) and additionally contributes to the Canard Enchaîné (France) and the Boston Globe (United States).
In 2006, Kofi Annan, the previous Secretary-General of the United Nations and Plantu, a caricaturist from Le Monde, invited Chappatte to launch the network “Cartooning for Peace”. This platform debuted in Paris in 2006, and now accounts for over 200 editorial cartoonists. “Cartooning for Peace” allowed Chappatte, Plantu and Marie Heuzé (a previous spokesperson for the United Nations in Geneva), to reinforce values of freedom of expression and of the press. In 2012, the network awarded a prize by the City of Geneva for their cartoonists’ distinguished bravery. Kofi Annan was the honorary president of the Swiss Foundation.
