 He resigned the post three years later after publishing an article openly criticising the vice-president, Alfonso Guerra, and his brother Juan Guerra.In 1996, Semprún became the first non-French author to be elected to the "Académie Goncourt", which awards an annual prize for literature written in French.In 2002, he was awarded the inaugural Ovid Prize in recognition of his entire body of work, which focuses on "tolerance and freedom of expression".