The award was presented at the European Solidarity Centre's Winter Garden, attended by French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Accepting the prize, Seweryn – widely regarded as one of Poland's greatest stage actors – said he had no hesitation in calling both Poland and France his homelands.
"A homeland is not just a place of birth," he said. "It is a community that shapes you, that gives you safety and shelter when you need it."
Born in Heilbronn, Germany, he added: "Poland gave me life's masters and professional mentors. It showed me the sources, culture and history that are the foundation of my identity."
Tusk paid tribute to Seweryn's moral courage, saying the roles he remembered most were those "where life was the director" and where the actor had risked his personal safety and freedom despite having every opportunity to live a comfortable, celebrated life.
Macron struck a lighter tone, joking that Polish officials had long insisted Maria Skłodowska-Curie was Polish, then Fryderyk Chopin – "and now they want us to believe Andrzej Seweryn is Polish too."
Seweryn, who has directed for the stage as well as performed, has led the Polish Theatre in Warsaw since 2011.
In 1980 he moved to France, becoming only the third foreigner in history to join the Comédie-Française, one of the world's most prestigious theatre companies.
He became a full member in 1995 and an honorary member in 2013.
The Bronisław Geremek Award was established jointly by the Polish and French foreign ministries under the 2025 Treaty of Nancy, and is administered by the Geremek Foundation.
It honours individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to dialogue and lasting cooperation between the two countries.
It is named after the Polish medieval historian and Solidarity-era opposition figure who served as Poland's foreign minister after 1989 and had deep ties to France, having worked at the Sorbonne and led the Polish Culture Centre in Paris.
(ał)
Source: PAP