The absence of a natural candidate to succeed Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, who died in August, had fueled rivalries at the French Academy… Two candidates, the writers Amin Maalouf and Jean-Christophe Rufin, will compete during of the election on Thursday of a new permanent secretary of the institution, a member of the administrative commission of the institution announced to AFP this Tuesday, September 26.
The vote to designate the successor of Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, who died in August, is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, according to very simple terms: only votes for one of these two men will be counted.
Maalouf the favorite?
Amin Maalouf, a 74-year-old Franco-Lebanese writer and winner of the 1993 Goncourt Prize for “The Rock of Tanios”, has been a declared candidate for some time. He is seen as the favorite.
Jean-Christophe Rufin, a 71-year-old former diplomat and 2001 Goncourt winner (“Red Brazil”), hesitated before finally taking the plunge.
“At first tempted to give up, I came to the conclusion that our great cause deserves some sacrifices,” he wrote in his application letter, quoted by the daily Le Monde.
An institution responsible for defending and promoting the French language
The permanent secretary of the French Academy is the member who directs this institution responsible for defending and promoting the French language. There have only been 32 people to hold this position since 1634.
The Academy has 40 seats, but only 35 are occupied today, including 28 by men and seven by women.