On the proposal of Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of National Education and Youth of the French Republic, the rank of Commander of the Order of Academic Palms was conferred on Mrs. Isabelle Bonnal, Director of Education, Youth and Sports of the Principality of Monaco.
The insignia of this grade was given by Emmanuel Ethis, Rector of the Nice Academy and Chancellor of the Universities.
The ceremony took place at the Automobile Club of Monaco in the presence of the Sovereign Prince, the Minister of State, the Archbishop, the President of the National Council and numerous authorities and personalities.
After leaving her native Tunisia, as she recalled, Ms. Isabelle Bonnal attended the Lycée Albert I before becoming a professor of letters in various institutions of the Principality. Then Director of National Education of Youth and Sports since 2011.
Fundamentally committed to the values of public service, she emphasised her unwavering attachment to the world of education and recalled the words of Victor Hugo: “Every child we teach is a man we win. Ignorance is the night that begins the abyss.”
More than a personal acknowledgement, this distinction rewards the unswerving commitment, for more than 40 years, of Ms. Isabelle Bonnal to the service of the educational community of the Principality and makes her one of the few Monegasques raised to the rank of Commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques.