Florent Montaclair allegedly fabricated the “Gold Medal of Philology.” The literature lecturer at Université Marie & Louis Pasteur in Besançon is suspected of creating a fictitious award that he received in 2016, raising concerns about academic credential verification [1].
Prosecutors opened a fraud investigation in February 2026. The Montbéliard public prosecutor began probing alleged document forgery, false titles and fraud; Montaclair’s residence was searched and he was taken for questioning mid‑February [1].
The medal ceremony was held in the French National Assembly. On 8 June 2016 the award was presented by former interior and defence minister Pierre Joxe before academics and politicians, and was promoted as “literature’s answer to the Fields Medal” and likened to a Nobel prize, despite lacking a genuine issuing body [2].
INSOP’s website once claimed parity with the Nobel, but the Nobel Foundation denied any link. The International Society of Philology’s site stated the medal “hung as high as the Nobel,” prompting the Nobel Foundation to assert it has no connection and to warn of possible trademark action [3][1].
Romanian journalists exposed the prize as a hoax in 2018. Scena9 reported that the award fooled the Romanian Academy and concluded the medal was fabricated, a finding that circulated in academic circles in Besançon from spring 2025 [4].
Montaclair also claimed an American doctorate from a non‑existent university. He listed a PhD from the University of Philology and Education (UPAE) in Delaware—an institution absent from official registries; the French Ministry of Higher Education flagged the degree as dubious, leading to a 2025 case dismissed for insufficient evidence but without confirming authenticity [1][2].