The event followed up on the recent publication of the "Dictionnaire critique de l'utopie au temps des Lumières", in the frame of Bronislaw Baczko's Balzan Research Project.
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres held a meeting entitled Penser l’Utopie in Paris on 20 January, 2017. The event followed up on the recent publication of the Dictionnaire critique de l’utopie au temps des Lumières under the direction of Bronislaw Baczko (2011 Balzan Prize, †2016), Michel Porret and François Rosset, and brought together many members of the academies that make up the Institut de France. The theme has also been approached from various points of view that are different from eighteenth century Western Europe.
In collaboration with the International Balzan Foundation “Prize”, the event was organized and presided over by André Vauchez (2013 Balzan Prize and member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres) and Pierre Brunel (member of the Académie des Sciences morales et politiques).
Michel Zink, Secrétaire perpétuel of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres and 2007 Balzan Prizewinner, introduced the meeting. International Balzan Foundation “Prize” President Enrico Decleva and its General Prize Committee Chairman Salvatore Veca spoke on behalf of the Foundation.