The Franco-Scottish Society of Scotland, in partnership with SCILT (Scotland's National Centre for Languages), established an essay prize in honour of Madame Jacqueline Munro-Lafon’s long and active life in the Franco-Scottish Community and to mark her one hundredth birthday.

Madame Munro-Lafon was the epitome of Franco-Scottishness and a “modern woman”. She was born in Paris on 27th January 1921 and spent her early years living comfortably with her family in the Latin Quarter.

She studied journalism and during her years as a student she became politically active, demonstrating for the rights of workers and women. However, her career was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War, which meant she lived through the hardships of the Nazi Occupation of Paris and its subsequent liberation.

Immediately after the war she joined the French Army and was assigned to British Forces as a liaison officer. Whilst in the army she met her future husband, Major Hamish Munro and after marrying in Paris they moved to England before settling in Scotland in 1960.

During her lifetime, she experienced huge changes both in France and Scotland. In her working life she promoted French culture throughout Scotland, particularly in her work for the French Institute in Glasgow.

In later life she maintained an interest in the arts, progressive politics and in current affairs. It was therefore very fitting that the title of the essay in her honour was La seule constante c’est le changement : La vie en France et en Ecosse 1921 – 2021.

Following on from the great success of the inaugural Jacqueline Munro-Lafon Essay Competition in 2021 (see article in The Franco-Scottish Society Bulletin 2020-2021 No.86) which was created to celebrate the 100th birthday of Madame Munro-Lafon, the Franco-Scottish Society of Scotland in partnership with SCILT decided to continue the competition in 2022.

The format was the same as in 2021 and again the inspiration derived from the changes that Jacqueline Munro-Lafon, a long-time member of the Franco-Scottish Society of Scotland experienced in her life and from the changes that she made happen.

Taking as a starting point a quote from Greta Thunberg We must change almost everything in our current societies, the entrants were asked in 2022 to consider which changes they would like to see and how they would make them happen.

As in 2021 SCILT contacted pupils studying Advanced Higher French in every secondary school across Scotland and organised and administered the competition.

Submissions were received from across the country and extended the reach of the competition with 23 local authority areas, about one third of the total, represented.

The awards ceremony was held by Zoom on 31st May 2022 with opening remarks and announcement of the winner by Lord Brodie, President of the Franco-Scottish Society of Scotland.

The participants were commended for the quality of their submissions - which presented a challenging task for the judging panel.

Mme Laurence Païs, Consule Générale de France and Directrice de l’Institut Français d’Écosse, and M. Jerome Munro-Lafon participated in the ceremony.

The 2022 awards ceremony can be viewed by clicking on the image above.

View the awards ceremony which includes a short extract from each finalist’s essay – read by its author.

The winner’s essay will also be published in the Franco-Scottish Society Bulletin, 2022 issue.