Awards & Achievements
Royal Society of Canada Awards
2003 Recipient - Pierre Kunstmann
Professor Pierre Kunstmann of the Département de lettres françaises of the University of Ottawa has
been elected a Fellow of the Académie des lettres et des sciences humaines of the Royal Society of Canada.
Pierre Kunstmann is a philologist and linguist. His expertise is in the area of old French. Dr. Kunstmann's research has earned him an international reputation branching out in three directions.
- Editing of medieval texts especially his expertise in literature pertaining to the miracles of Notre-Dame;
- Study of syntax and lexicon (Kunstmann is recognized for his expertise in the relative-interrogative pronoun and has been a major contributor to the Dictionnaire du Moyen Français);
- Electronic data processing of ancient texts and documents on medieval French. His innovative work in this last area is a remarkable marriage of scientific rigour and modern technology.
“I am very pleased with this news. I have a deep respect for learned societies and the crucial role they play in our country. I am honoured to be a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and plan on actively participating in its activities,” Dr. Kunstmann said.
Pierre Kunstmann has been teaching at the University of Ottawa since 1967. He is co-director of the Laboratoire de français ancien at the University's Faculty of Arts and of the Texte de français ancien (TFA) database established by the University of Ottawa in collaboration with the University of Chigago. Prof. Kunstmann is an associate researcher with the Institut de la langue française du Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France).