Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine
Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance
Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust
Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine
Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History
Luxembourg Centre for European Law
Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems
A major recognition for Luxembourgish literature and a proud moment for our academic community: the 2026 Prix Servais, widely regarded as the most prestigious literary award in Luxembourg, has been awarded to Dr Ian de Toffoli (Research Scientist in Luxembourgish literature at the Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) for his book “Léa ou la théorie des systèmes complexes”, published by Actes Sud in 2025.
In this book, the author tells two stories that take place at different times. One follows Léa, a young environmental activist whose actions become more radical over time. The other looks at the Koch family, who lead a large international oil company with strong political influence. Moving from Luxembourg to the United States and beyond, the novel explores power, responsibility and the impact of global systems.
The jury highlighted the strength of the book, both in its ideas and its writing style. By combining different forms such as storytelling, theatre and poetry, Ian de Toffoli offers a powerful reflection on today’s challenges, especially around ecology and society.
“People often ask me how I combine being a writer with being a teacher (and researcher) at the University of Luxembourg, within the Institute for Luxembourgish Language and Literatures. But for me, these two activities complement each other. I studied Literature because I wanted to understand how literature is created, what it is made of. And this learning process is far from over.” – Ian de Toffoli
Copyright photo: Alain Rischard