The Gold Medal goes to Italy, awarded to a student from Aosta.

International Philosophy Olympiad

From 26 to 29 May 2022, the international finals of thePhilosophy Olympiad, organised by the FISP (International Federation of Philosophical Societies) and supported by UNESCO, were held in Lisbon, the birthplace of Fernando Pessoa, with 88 finalists competing from 42 countries around the world. After two years, it was finally held in person and was dedicated to the theme of “identity and person”, kicking off with an extract written by the Portuguese author.
On the top step of the podium was Giulia Pession, a fifth-year student at the Liceo Classico in Aosta, who won by refuting a thesis by Heraclitus on the universality of reason.
There were several stages to this international competition. The first stage, promoted and organised by the Ministry of Education in agreement with the Italian Philosophical Society, involved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy (MAECI) in order to encourage Italian schools around the world to participate. The 380 participating schools from all over Italy were joined by 6 Italian schools abroad (in Brazil, Greece, Morocco, Peru, Russian Federation, Turkey).
The awards ceremony for the first phase took place on 22 April at the Teatro Palladium, Università Roma Tre. The large audience was greeted by the Minister for Education Patrizio Bianchi and Embassy Counsellor Valentina Setta of MAECI, among others.
Present at the ceremony, representing Office V of the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy, were Professors Maria Concetta Di Giaimo and Serena Bonito, who were part of the Assessment Commission for the competing works in the regional phase of the competition, which was chaired by Riccardo Chiaradonna, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Università Roma Tre.
Passing this stage of the competition, from section A (Italian language), were two students from Moscow’s “Italo Calvino” Italian School; from section B (foreign language), one student from Istanbul’s “Istituti Medi Italiani” Italian State Secondary School and one from Casablanca’s “Enrico Mattei” Italian School, who produced essays on the meaning of friendship, referencing Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and reflecting on Arendt’s Humanity in Dark Times.