La Medalla de Oro, the highest distinction awarded el CírculoIt recognizes those individuals whose intellectual and cultural contributions have had a profound impact on contemporary thought and public life.

wendy brown

Wendy Brown is one of the most influential thinkers of recent decades. She is Professor Emerita of Political Science at the University of California and currently continues her research and teaching at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, though her work transcends academia to engage with art, culture, feminism, and democracy. Her works include such important titles as *In the Ruins of Neoliberalism*, *Walled States*, and the book that launched the collaborative publishing project between el Círculo de Bellas Artes and Lengua de Trapo, Tiempos nihilistas. This imprint also includes his emblematic Estados del agravio, as well as contributions to the collective works El síndrome Trump and Neoliberalismo mutante. In 2024, he visited Madrid to inaugurate the first edition of the Festival de las Ideas. His interdisciplinary approach and commitment to freedom of expression and social justice continue to inspire academics and activists worldwide.

Andoni Luis Aduriz

El Círculo For the first time, the prestigious Gold Medal has been awarded to a chef. Andoni Luis Adúriz, chef of the Mugaritz restaurant in Errenteria (Guipúzcoa), is not only a pioneering creator in the culinary field, but also a renowned theorist and popularizer of food through his publications. These include books co-authored with eminent figures on topics such as "Botanical Dictionary for Cooks," "Cooking to Live: How to Cook to Prevent Cancer," "Cooking, Eating, Living Together: Recipes to Think with the Five Senses," "Open Innovation and Haute Cuisine," and "Mugaritz: Original Soundtrack." His solo works include the recent and illuminating sociological essay "I Don't Know and Other Certainties," the popular science book "My Home Recipes," the educational guide "Txikichef," and the entertaining "The Underbelly of Haute Cuisine" and "The Extraterrestrial Gourmet." He has also written introductory essays for books as encyclopedic as Harold Mac Gee's "On Food and Cooking" or as imaginative as Brazilian chef Alex Atala's "Escoffianas brasileiras".

Trained by Ferran Adriá at El Bulli, Adúriz (1971) has collaborated with el Círculo de Bellas Artes He has participated in several summer courses at the School of Arts with Carlos III University, both individually and by presenting film documentaries at the Berlin and San Sebastián Film Festivals, as well as in unforgettable discussions on tradition and innovation alongside chefs like Luis Alberto Lera. Among his accolades as a chef, he has been included in the Top 10 of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 14 consecutive years.

Almost immediately after the French Academy of Fine Arts incorporated Guy Savoy as the first chef in its history, el Círculo de Bellas Artes It responds in these times of hope and optimism, recognizing gastronomy as a cultural focus for reflection and pleasure.