"Even Noam Chomsky Was Deceived": French Professor Fabricated "Nobel Prize-Level Academic Award"

French Professor’s Decade-Long Fraud Exposed
Fabricated Academic Society and Self-Awarded Honors... Even Ordered the Medal Himself
Boosted Prestige by Inviting Nobel Laureates and Politicians

A professor at a French university built a reputation in academia by presenting himself as the recipient of a “Nobel Prize-level international academic award.” However, it has been revealed that he fabricated the existence of the award himself and is now under investigation by prosecutors. Notably, he is reported to have orchestrated an elaborate fraud by inviting Nobel laureates and renowned scholars to the award ceremony, thereby boosting the prestige of the fake award.

Image of the 'Bibliography Gold Medal' introduced on the nonexistent International Bibliography Society website. Photo by Yonhap News

The BBC reported on the 6th (local time) that French prosecutors are investigating Florent Montaclair, a literature professor active in Besançon in eastern France, on charges including forgery, fraud, and identity theft.

Montaclair first attracted academic attention in 2016 when he received the “Bibliography Gold Medal” during a ceremony at the French National Assembly. At the time, this award was introduced as a Nobel Prize-level honor given by the International Bibliographical Society, allegedly affiliated with a university in Delaware, United States. The list of past recipients reportedly included globally renowned scholars such as Umberto Eco, and Montaclair was said to be the first French recipient. The award ceremony was attended by former ministers, the president of the National Assembly, and even Nobel laureates, further enhancing the award’s prestige. In particular, in 2017, the distinguished American linguist Noam Chomsky was selected as a recipient of the award and actually attended the ceremony held in France. Although it is unknown how he came to participate in the event, the credibility of both the society and the award increased dramatically as a result.

However, the prosecutors’ investigation revealed that both the university and the International Bibliographical Society did not exist. Most of the previous recipients’ records were also fabricated, and even the medal itself was found to have been custom-ordered by Montaclair for 250 euros from a jeweler’s website in Paris. Authorities suspect that Montaclair orchestrated the entire scheme to elevate his own academic standing.

His fraud began to unravel in 2018 when Romanian media raised suspicions about a “fake Nobel Prize.” As the controversy failed to attract significant attention in France, Montaclair continued his professorial career without issue, but last year, after a university professor raised the issue with school authorities, the suspicions resurfaced.

After receiving the university’s report, prosecutors launched an investigation and in February of this year searched Montaclair’s residence on charges of forgery, fraud, and identity theft. French prosecutors described it as “a case of constructing an enormous fictitious world” and are also examining whether Montaclair benefited in terms of academic position or salary increases by falsifying his accolades.

The prosecutor in charge commented, “This is an enormous fraud,” adding, “It’s like watching a movie script unfold.”

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