Coppieters Awards Ceremony to Recognise Elisa Loncón Antileo

On the 26th March 2025, Coppieters Foundation will honor Mrs Elisa Loncón  Antileo as the 2024 recipient of the Coppieters Awards at an official award ceremony in Brussels, Belgium.

With this award, Coppieters recognizes Mrs Loncón’s exceptional contribution to the democratic defense of minority rights as well as to the ideals of peace and diversity.

What are Coppieters awards?

The Coppieters Awards are an initiative of the Coppieters Foundation to honour individuals and organizations that-like Maurits Coppieters himself used to- stand out in defence of cultural and linguistic diversity, inter-cultural dialogue, self-determination, rights of minorities, peace, democracy and a united Europe. The main objective of the Coppieters Awards is to give recognition to persons and organizations that have successfully managed to find innovative ways to advocate for and embody these values.

Who is Elisa Loncón Antileo?

Elisa Loncón Antileo is a Mapuche linguist and indigenous rights activist in Chile. In 2021, Loncón was elected as one of the representatives of the Mapuche people for the Chilean Constitutional Convention. Following in the inauguration of the body, Loncón was elected President of the Constitutional Convention.
Loncón studied English at the University of La Frontera. During this time, Loncón was also part of a Mapuche-language theater group, touring Mapuche communities in the region. Loncón then pursued postgraduate studies at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, aided by her connections to Chilean exiles living in the Netherlands. She also studied at the University of Regina and the Metropolitan Autonomous University, before receiving her PhD from Leiden University and her doctorate in literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. After graduating, Loncón became a professor at the University of Santiago, focusing her research and writing several books on the teaching of the Mapuche language.

She was part of the Ad Mapu cultural organization and the Aukiñ Wallmapu Ngulam (AWNg or Consejo de Todas las Tierras in Spanish). As part of the AWNg, she participated in the design of the Mapuche flag, the Wenufoye. The flag was designed in the context of the upcoming 500th anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus in 1992. As the King of Spain Juan Carlos I planned to visit Chile for the anniversary Loncón recalls: «we were going to say no to the King of Spain for all of what that [colonization] meant to us».

In acknowledgment of the entirety of her contribution to the fight for democracy, self-determination and the Mapuche people Coppieters Foundation presents her with the 2024 Coppieters Award.

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Practicalities:

When: Wednesday 26 March 2025 at 18:00
Where: Maison Grand-Place, Brussels, Belgium.

This event is invitation-only. It is a private event and access is only allowed upon receipt of invitation and confirmation of interest.

Language:

The event will be held in English. No interpretation will be provided

Get involved:

This event is invitation-only. Share your views about the event on Social Media with the hashtag #CoppietersAwards24

Press:

Media inquiries can be addressed to info@ideasforeurope.eu

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This award and the Coppieters Foundation is financially supported by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not liable for the content of the event nor for the opinions of the speakers at the awards ceremony.

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