L'Académie Française Is Founded
L'Académie Française, founded on January 29, 1635, by Cardinal Richelieu on behalf of King Louis XIII, serves as France's official literary society. Established to promote French culture and exert state influence over it, the Academy began with 40 members, informally meeting to discuss literature prior to its formal creation. Known as "the 40 immortals," these members were tasked with preserving the purity of the French language and compiling a dictionary, which became a significant focus of their efforts. The first edition of the dictionary was published in 1694 after a lengthy and contentious process, reflecting the challenges the committee faced in reaching consensus. Over time, the Academy has played a pivotal role in shaping educational directives and influencing language usage in France. Although it was disbanded during the French Revolution, it was restored in 1816 and has since evolved to welcome women and foreigners who write in French. Despite its conservative reputation, the Academy is recognized for its fairness and has been entrusted with awarding various literary and historical prizes, including the Prix de Vertu for acts of courage or charity.
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L'Académie Française Is Founded
L'Académie Française Is Founded
The prestigious Académie Française, or French Academy, the official literary society of France, was founded by a royal patent issued by the statesman Cardinal Richelieu on behalf of King Louis XIII on January 29, 1635. It was approved by Richelieu as part of an effort to both encourage French culture and introduce a measure of state control over its direction. The new society had 40 members, many of whom had been meeting informally in Paris before the Academy's founding in order to discuss literature and rhetoric. Now these 40 members became, in effect, agents of the state, nicknamed “the 40 immortals,” charged with such tasks as maintaining the purity of the French language.
Although the Academy's original statutes determined that it would compile a dictionary, a book on grammar, and treatises on rhetoric and poetics, the only project completed has been the dictionary, the first edition of which came out in 1694, with subsequent revisions and updates appearing over the last 300 years. Six of the Academy's members are appointed to the task for life, along with a secretary to assist them. Words are registered and included in the dictionary based on their approval by France's most respected citizens and by the best writers in the French language. The completion of the first edition, which began production in 1639, directed by Claude Favre de Vaugelas, proved to be a slow and laborious process. It took the committee nearly seven years—the entire length of time it took Samuel Johnson to complete the first English dictionary—just to produce the letter G. The 55 years during which the men worked were characterized by almost constant bickering, with committee members frequently talking over each other, shouting each other down, or sleeping through their meetings. In 1778, the Academy began compiling the Historical Dictionary of the French Language at Voltaire's suggestion but, after approximately 100 years, work ended on the project with only the letter A completed.
The Academy has no legislative ability to enforce its conservative approach toward the introduction of new words and usages, but it does have a strong influence. In France public education is controlled by a central bureaucratic apparatus, and the various ministers of education have traditionally followed the Academy's determinations very closely in issuing their directives about school curriculums. It is no surprise, therefore, that ever since King Louis XIV, the French head of state has been the official protecteur of the Academy. The Academy was disbanded in 1793 after the outbreak of the French Revolution, but it was restored in 1816, after the Napoleonic Wars.
Institutional conservatism has also been seen in the Academy's refusal over the centuries to admit certain famous writers who were controversial in their time, including Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Marcel Proust, and Émile Zola. However, the Academy has also earned a reputation for fairness, and has been entrusted with the awarding of various literary and historical prizes. One prize, given to poor people who have displayed acts of great courage or charity, is the Prix de Vertu. Established by M. de Monthyon in 1784, it is frequently awarded to missionaries or members of religious vocations. In modern times, the stipulations for membership in the Academy have been revised so that women as well as foreigners who write in French are now elligible.