French Academy

For more information on Académie Française, visit Britannica.com.

This hallowed institution began as a circle of writers grouped round Conrart in c.1629. Getting wind of this initiative, Richelieu decided to take it over as an instrument of national and personal prestige. In spite of the reluctance of some members, it began to meet in 1634, and its letters patent were ratified by the hostile Parlement de Paris in 1637.

Its form has changed little since the 17th c. The number of Academicians is limited to 40 (‘les Immortels’), who are elected by their peers after a process of canvassing and visiting. They include not only writers, but important public figures (politicians, soldiers, lawyers, churchmen, etc.). Only in 1980 was the first woman academician, Marguerite Yourcenar, elected. The Académie's function is to establish and maintain linguistic and literary standards for the nation as a whole. At first this involved examining recent publications; one of its first operations was the notorious Sentiments de l'Académie sur Le Cid, drafted by Chapelain. Its principal task, however, was to be the preparation of a French dictionary, grammar, rhetoric, and poetics. The last two never materialized, and there was no official grammar until 1932 [see Grammars], but the dictionary remains a regular part of the Académie's work. The first edition appeared in 1694; since then there have been seven more, and the ninth is currently appearing in fascicles [see Dictionaries]. The Académie also awards literary prizes, originally for poetry and eloquence, but currently numbering over 300, including the Grand Prix du Roman and the Grand Prix de la Francophonie. It is a rich institution, possessing several handsome properties, and its public activities are conducted with old-fashioned solemnity. From 1672 to 1806 it met in the Louvre, since then under the ‘coupole’ in the former Collège des Quatre Nations across the river from the Louvre. Academicians still wear the bottle-green uniform established by Napoleon in 1801. The early years of the Académie's history are described in Pellisson's Histoire de l'Académie française (1653), continued by d'Olivet up to 1700. At first it was subject to pressure from above; Richelieu, the first ‘protector’, was succeeded by Chancellor Séguier, but from 1676 onwards the king fulfilled this role. Under Louis XIV, the Académie was expected to play its part in exalting the monarchy, and the monarch influenced the choice of new members. La Fontaine's election, for instance, was delayed because he was out of favour. Similar pressures operated in the 18th c.— Saint-Pierre was expelled for his political writings—but from the middle of the century the institution was infiltrated by the philosophes; d'Alembert as Secrétaire Perpétuel used it as an instrument of Enlightenment. Even so, it was suppressed in 1793 as a part of the old aristocratic order. Morellet saved its archives, and its surviving members formed the nucleus of the literary section of the Institut de France, of which it became the first ‘classe’ under its original name in 1816. Since then, it has remained a central element of the cultural establishment.

From the beginning the Académie was criticized by those outside it (e.g. Saint-Évremond)—and occasionally by those within. The slow pace of work on the dictionary (only marginally improved by Colbert's creation of jetons or attendance tokens) attracted mockery, as did its claims to literary authority. One of its characteristics has always been its salon-like mingling of writers with members of the social élite. Whereas the majority of past Academicians are now forgotten, many of France's greatest writers, particularly in the last two centuries, have not been members. Few Academicians are elected before reaching a respectable age, and the Immortals are a conservative rather than a creative force in French literary life. Nevertheless, the institution retains considerable prestige as part of France's cultural patrimony, its activities and elections are reported in the quality press, and its views on such matters as spelling—a French national obsession—continue to exert an influence.

[Peter France]

Bibliography

• J.-L. Caput L'Académie française (1986)
• M. Fumaroli, “‘La Coupole’”, in P. Nora (ed.), Les Lieux de mémoire, II, La Nation, vol. 3 (1986)

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an honorary group of French writers and thinkers supported by the French government