THE 2025 JACOB AND WILHELM GRIMM PRIZE FROM THE DAAD AWARDED TO PROFESSOR ALBERT GOUAFFO FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF DSCHANG
On the occasion of the International Association of German Studies (IVG) Congress held in Graz, Austria, from July 20 to 27, 2025, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) awarded the 2025 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Prize to Cameroonian researcher and German studies scholar, Professor Albert GOUAFFO.
Professor GOUAFFO, a lecturer in German Literature and Cultural Studies, is currently the Head of the Division of Administrative Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Research at the University of Dschang. He has also previously served as Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at the same university for several years. Additionally, he is a member of several learned societies and, notably, has been a member of the Advisory Committee of the “Cultural Assets and Collections from Colonial Contexts” department at the German Lost Art Foundation (Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste) since 2019.
This prize, awarded for the first time to an African scholar, honors researchers worldwide who have distinguished themselves through their work in the field of German studies.
The laureate has gained significant recognition in the German academic world through his research on historical issues of literary and cultural knowledge transfer, as well as questions concerning the provenance of cultural artifacts, human remains, and zoological or botanical relics from colonial contexts—particularly those related to Cameroon.
Among his numerous works is a research project conducted in collaboration with Professor Bénédicte SAVOY from the Technical University of Berlin and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Titled “Inverted History of Collections: An Annotated Atlas of Cameroon’s Material Heritage in German Museums” (2020–2023), this project led to the publication of the “Atlas of Absence: Cameroon’s Cultural Heritage in Germany” (2023).
This seminal work maps out Cameroonian cultural assets held in Germany but absent from Cameroon, revealing that over 40,000 artifacts and specimens were taken from Cameroonian communities by German colonizers during the German protectorate over Cameroon (1884–1916) and are now housed in German public museums.
This prestigious award is a source of great pride for Cameroon and highlights the excellence of its researchers on the international stage. It also underscores the vitality of academic and cultural cooperation between Cameroon and Germany, where scholars serve as true ambassadors of cultural diplomacy.
