This bronze medal was presented to the poet Maïse Ploquin-Caunan by the Académie Française on 27th October 1986. Ploquin-Caunan was the winner of the Prix Broquette-Gonin in 1982, the annual prize rewards a philosophical, political or literary work, deemed likely to inspire a love of truth, beauty and goodness. In 1985 a prize was established to celebrate the work of Ploquin-Caunan by the Académie Française, it is biennially awarded to the author of a collection of poetry, in classical or free verse, of romantic expression.

The medal is stamped BRONZE on the edge and has a foundry mark (I haven’t been able to trace this yet). One the front there is an image of Cardinal de Richelieu, with the dedication to the poet Maïse Ploquin-Caunan on the reverse.

The Académie Française, also known as the French Academy, is the principal French council for matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Abolished in 1793 during the French Revolution, it was restored as a division of the Institut de France in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is the oldest of the five académies of the institute. The body has the duty of acting as an official authority on the language; it is tasked with publishing an official dictionary of the language.