Laureates of the Goethe Medal in Conversation in Berlin

David Van Reybrouck is a writer, historian, and archaeologist. As one of Belgium’s and Europe’s leading intellectuals, he is committed to fostering democratic resilience and promoting a comprehensive understanding of history. He studied philosophy and archaeology at the Catholic University of Leuven and at Cambridge, and earned his doctorate from Leiden University.

In 2010, he published his widely acclaimed and award-winning book Congo: The Epic History of a People. His most recent work, Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World (2022), was awarded the Geschwister Scholl Prize in 2023, among others. Drawing on archival material, numerous eyewitness interviews, and personal observations, Van Reybrouck offers insights into local histories and perspectives that are often overlooked in Europe, while also confronting the frequently repressed and violent legacies of European colonialism.

In 2011, Van Reybrouck founded G1000, an initiative for democratic innovation, civic engagement, and participation. His book Against Elections: The Case for Democracy (2016), in which he outlines how deliberative democracy can be developed further, attracted international attention. His proposal to convene citizens’ assemblies through sortition sparked considerable interest and inspired a wave of similar assemblies across Europe. In Germany, the concept of citizens’ assemblies was tested at the federal level for the first time in 2024 with the “Citizens’ Assembly on Nutrition.” Van Reybrouck played a role in designing the world’s first permanent citizens’ assemblies in Belgium’s German-speaking Community, as well as in Paris and Brussels.

From 2016 to 2017, he was a DAAD fellow in Berlin. He serves as honorary president of PEN Vlaanderen, advocating especially for writers persecuted in their home countries. In 2025, Van Reybrouck was named Denker der Nederlanden, the most prestigious philosophy prize in the Netherlands and Flanders. This honorary title is awarded every two years to individuals whose essays, opinion pieces, lectures, or interviews contribute significantly to public debate in Dutch-speaking regions.

Osman Kavala is a cultural philanthropist dedicated to fostering intercultural dialogue, artistic collaboration, and regional peacebuilding in Turkey. Through the founding and support of numerous initiatives in both Turkey and Europe, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the cultural landscape of the region.

As the founder of Anadolu Kültür, a non-governmental organization operating at the intersection of art, civil society, and human rights advocacy, Kavala has established platforms such as Depo in Istanbul and the Diyarbakır Arts Center. These spaces provide independent venues for artistic work and promote cross-border collaboration among cultural practitioners. His efforts have also focused on building networks between cultural institutions in Anatolia and their counterparts across Europe. Notable examples include the TANDEM programme, which supports long-term artistic partnerships, and Spaces of Culture, an initiative led by the Goethe-Institut that provides support for cultural production.

Kavala is also a co-founder of the Association for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, committed to preserving endangered historical sites and artifacts. Through projects like the Armenian-Turkish Cinema Platform and the Armenian-Turkish Youth Symphony Orchestra, he has significantly advanced cross-cultural exchange and reconciliation efforts.

His lifelong commitment to civil society is grounded in the belief that art and culture are essential tools for dialogue, mutual understanding, and the creation of a more just and inclusive society.

Ayşe Buğra is a social scientist, writer, and academic figure from Turkey. She received her PhD in Economics from McGill University. She is currently Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. During her time at Boğaziçi University, she has taught and published in the areas of development studies, social policy, state-business relations, and the socio-economic history of modern Turkey. She was the founding director of Boğaziçi University’s Social Policy Forum research centre from 2004 to 2017.

Buğra’s latest book, Social Policy in Capitalist History: Poverty, Work and Society was published in 2024. Her publications on politics and business include State and Business in Modern Turkey: A Comparative Study and New Capitalism in Turkey: The Relationship between Politics, Religion and Business.

She received the TWAS (World Academy of Science) Celso Furtado Prize for Social Sciences, the Turkey PEN Writers’ Association Duygu Asena Women’s Rights Award, the National Sedat Simavi Award for State and Business in Modern Turkey, and the Boğaziçi University Abdullah Kuran Outstanding Service Award.

She is a member of the Science Academy Society in Turkey. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the International Karl Polanyi Institute at Concordia University in Montreal.

Li Yuan is a Germanist and a leading expert in German as a foreign language. She heads the Faculty of Asian and European Languages, the Institute for German Studies, and serves as Director of the Center for Global Competence at Zhejiang University in the People’s Republic of China.

Li Yuan earned her doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin, where she also completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a recipient of the prestigious Humboldt Scholarship.

Her work in foreign language acquisition research is groundbreaking, particularly through her application of modern empirical data analysis to continuously refine the didactics and methodology of German language teaching in China. Alongside developing innovative teaching formats, she places a strong emphasis on nurturing young scholars to meet the growing demand for German as a foreign language in China. Through a wide range of professional development seminars, she actively contributes to the ongoing advancement of the field.

A research colloquium she initiated fosters scholarly exchange between German and Chinese researchers. She also helps build institutional bridges between China and the German-speaking world through her involvement with the DAAD and the Culture and Language programme of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. Her contributions to research and teaching have been recognized with multiple awards in China.

Shelly Kupferberg (moderator), born in 1974 in Tel Aviv, grew up in West Berlin. She studied journalism, theatre, and musicology in Berlin. For the past 30 years, she has been a prominent voice in German cultural broadcasting, presenting programmes on culture, literature, and society for ARD, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, and rbb’s radio3.

In addition to her regular live radio shows, she moderates concerts, readings, conferences, and events for cultural institutions and festivals.

Her literary debut, Isidor, was published by Diogenes in autumn 2022 and made it onto the SPIEGEL bestseller list. A theatre adaptation of the book is currently in development at the Burgtheater Vienna, with a premiere scheduled for February 2026, directed by Philipp Stölzl.