Monthyon Prizes

Monthyon Prizes, prizes awarded annually in Paris under the will of a French lawyer, Baron de Monthyon, who died in 1820. He bequeathed 10,000 francs for an annual prize for the discoverer of any mode of diminishing the unhealthiness of a mechanical art, and 10,000 francs for an annual prize for the inventor of any means of perfecting medical science or surgery, to be awarded by the Academy of Sciences; also 10,000 francs for the French person who shall have performed the most virtuous action during the year; and 10,000 francs to the French person who shall have published in France the book most beneficial to morals, to be awarded by the French Academy.