John Dunmore Medal 2023

The Fédération des Alliances Françaises de Nouvelle-Zélande, in association with the Embassy of France, is delighted to announce the award of the John Dunmore Medal for 2023 to Dr Nathalie Philippe, Senior Lecturer, French Programme, University of Waikato, for her stellar work on  connections between Aotearoa and France. 

Dr Philippe is to be very warmly congratulated on this honour. Presentation of the Medal will be made at a later date. 

Please find below the full announcement about Dr Nathalie Philippe and the John Dunmore Medal Award!

ANNOUNCEMENT:

AWARD OF THE JOHN DUNMORE MEDAL – 2023

The Fédération des Alliances Françaises de Nouvelle-Zélande, in association with the Embassy of France, is delighted to announce the award of the John Dunmore Medal for 2023 to Dr Nathalie Philippe, Senior Lecturer, French Programme, University of Waikato.

Dr Philippe’s stellar work over the years on personal & historical connections between Aotearoa and France in the context of World War I, her recent book and exciting involvement in Te Arawhata, New Zealand Liberation Museum in Le Quesnoy, are the embodiment of the spirit and philosophy underpinning the medal, and the late Professor Dunmore’s own work.

To quote (somewhat extensively, if I may) from the eloquent summary by joint nominees Associate Professor Karin Speedy (University of Adelaide, JD Medal 2013), Professor Emerita Raylene Ramsay (University of Auckland, JD Medal 2009) and Associate Professor France Grenaudier-Klijn (Massey University) of Dr Philippe’s many achievements and contributions:

“Nathalie’s work on New Zealand-French connections, particularly in the context of World War I and its memorialisation, corresponds to the spirit and philosophy of the John Dunmore medal. Indeed, given John’s own resistance activities during the Second World War as a civilian in Jersey, we feel that he would certainly approve of this nomination.

Nathalie’s scholarly research has mostly focussed on New Zealanders in France during the First World War. Her most recent book, Death among Good Men: First World War Reflections from New Zealand Major General Lindsay Inglis, has received critical acclaim and media attention for its skilful and insightful retelling of Lindsay Inglis’ wartime experiences in France and his development as a leader through his letters and later memoirs. […]

In addition to numerous articles and other books on Franco-New Zealand collaboration during times of war […] Nathalie has published on New Zealand history in French in Une colonie écossaise en Nouvelle-Zélande, Dunedin 1848- 1878: étude socio-historique, bringing New Zealand stories to a francophone readership. This knowledge exchange across and between France and the Pacific is thus mutually enriching and constitutes a major contribution to a deeper understanding of French-New Zealand relations.

Nathalie’s work has an impact beyond academia through the dissemination of her research via important exhibitions of wartime memory held in both France and New Zealand. She has fostered collaborative research between the two countries, notably by organising two conferences in 2008 and 2018 in Le Quesnoy, a town liberated by New Zealand troops on 4 November 1918. Her latest contribution to knowledge of life during the First World War in France features in an exhibition developed by Wētā Workshop for Te Arawhata, the New Zealand Liberation Museum in Le Quesnoy. Nathalie herself served as an advisor for the New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust which has overseen the fifteen-million-dollar project to build this museum, which will be inaugurated in October 2023.

Nathalie’s expertise has been called on in the production of two documentaries on French-New Zealand relations during World War I: The Town the New Zealanders Saved (2008) and Les Kiwis dans la Grande Guerre: sur les traces de ces héros venus de l’autre bout du monde (2015). She has also been interviewed on television, radio and for newspaper stories, getting her research out to a wider public and making known the extensive connections forged between France and New Zealand by soldiers fighting in the trenches of northern France.

Alongside her own high-quality books and publications, Dr Nathalie Philippe’s work in bringing together academics, curators and artists from France and New Zealand on collaborative projects of memory represents an outstanding contribution to the knowledge and understanding of historical links and intellectual development between France and New Zealand.”

Nā reira, ngā mihi nui, Félicitations, Dr Philippe !

Deborah Walker-Morrison, Waipapa Taumata Rau I University of Auckland

For the Fédération des Alliances Françaises de Nouvelle-Zélande Incorporated,
Tāmaki Makaurau, 22nd June 2023.

The John Dunmore Medal is awarded in recognition of a major contribution to knowledge and understanding of the part played by the French people or the French language in the development of historical, intellectual, scientific, economic or other aspects of world culture, preference being given to the Pacific region.

Federation des Alliances Francaises de Nouvelle-Zelande Incorporated - Charity Registration Number: CC48867