diff --git a/pipeline/src/additional_methods/by_name.py.txt b/pipeline/src/additional_methods/by_name.py.txt
index a7515ee3..5bbfef33 100644
--- a/pipeline/src/additional_methods/by_name.py.txt
+++ b/pipeline/src/additional_methods/by_name.py.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
         match: str = "equals",
         all: bool = False,
         case_sensitive: bool = True,
+        ignore_accents: bool = False,
     ):
         """
         Search for instances in the openMINDS instance library based on their name.
@@ -24,6 +25,10 @@
                 (the given string contains the name-like property).
             all (bool, optional): Whether to return all objects that match the name, or only the first. Defaults to False.
             case_sensitive (bool, optional): Whether the search should be case-sensitive. Defaults to True.
+            ignore_accents (bool, optional): Whether to ignore accents (acute, grave, circumflex) and
+                other diacritical marks (cedilla, tilde, ring, etc.) when matching. Also treat
+                special letters (ß, œ, æ, ø, ł, etc.) as their closest plain-letter equivalents
+                (e.g. "ß" as "ss"). Defaults to False.
         """
         namelike_properties = ("name", "lookup_label", "family_name", "full_name", "short_name", "abbreviation")
         if cls._instance_lookup is None:
@@ -43,16 +48,39 @@
                     else:
                         cls._instance_lookup[key] = [instance]
 
+        def remove_accents(s):
+            import unicodedata
+
+            special = str.maketrans({
+                "Ł": "L", "ł": "l",
+                "Ø": "O", "ø": "o",
+                "Đ": "D", "đ": "d",
+                "Ð": "D", "ð": "d",
+                "Þ": "Th", "þ": "th",
+                "Æ": "AE", "æ": "ae",
+                "Œ": "OE", "œ": "oe",
+                "ß": "ss", "ẞ": "SS",
+                "Ə": "E", "ə": "e",
+                "ı": "i",
+            })
+            nfd_form = unicodedata.normalize("NFD", s)
+            stripped = "".join(c for c in nfd_form if not unicodedata.combining(c))
+            return stripped.translate(special)
+
         def normalize(s):
-            return s if case_sensitive else s.casefold()
+            if not case_sensitive:
+                s = s.casefold()
+            if ignore_accents:
+                s = remove_accents(s)
+            return s
 
         if match == "equals":
-            if case_sensitive:
+            if case_sensitive and not ignore_accents:
                 matches = cls._instance_lookup.get(name, [])
             else:
                 matches = []
                 for key, instances in cls._instance_lookup.items():
-                    if key.casefold() == name.casefold():
+                    if normalize(key) == normalize(name):
                         matches.extend(instances)
         elif match == "contains":
             matches = []
diff --git a/pipeline/tests/test_regressions.py b/pipeline/tests/test_regressions.py
index a2d34ca8..b0481cf2 100644
--- a/pipeline/tests/test_regressions.py
+++ b/pipeline/tests/test_regressions.py
@@ -728,3 +728,38 @@ def test_pr0100_by_name_match_within(om):
     # but none of those full names is itself a substring of "Macaca".
     assert Species.by_name("Macaca", match="contains", all=True) is not None
     assert Species.by_name("Macaca", match="within", all=True) is None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("om", [openminds.latest])
+def test_pr0103_by_name_ignore_accents(om):
+    # https://github.com/openMetadataInitiative/openMINDS_Python/pull/103
+    # by_name(..., ignore_accents=True) strips accents/diacritics (Unicode NFD) before matching
+    SovereignState = om.controlled_terms.SovereignState
+
+    # (query, case_sensitive, ignore_accents, should match France)
+    cases = [
+        ("République française", True, False, True),    # exact
+        ("Republique francaise", True, True, True),     # accents differ 
+        ("république française", False, False, True),   # case differs 
+        ("republique francaise", False, True, True),    # case and accents differ 
+        ("republique francaise", True, False, False),   # defaults: neither absorbed
+        ("Republique francaise", True, False, False),   # accents still matter
+        ("république française", True, True, False),     # case still matters
+    ]
+    for query, case_sensitive, ignore_accents, should_match in cases:
+        match = SovereignState.by_name(query, case_sensitive=case_sensitive, ignore_accents=ignore_accents)
+        assert (match is not None and match.name == "France") == should_match
+
+    # ignore_accents also has to map special letters
+    special_letter_cases = [
+        # (query, ignore_accents, expected_country_or_None)
+        ("Azərbaycan Respublikası", False, "Azerbaijan"),     # exact
+        ("Azerbaycan Respublikasi", True, "Azerbaijan"),
+        ("Azerbaycan Respublikasi", False, None),
+        ("Wááshindoon Bikéyah Ałhidadiidzooígíí", False, "United States"),  # exact
+        ("Waashindoon Bikeyah Alhidadiidzooigii", True, "United States"),
+        ("Waashindoon Bikeyah Alhidadiidzooigii", False, None),
+    ]
+    for query, ignore_accents, expected_name in special_letter_cases:
+        match = SovereignState.by_name(query, ignore_accents=ignore_accents)
+        assert (match.name if match else None) == expected_name