Académie française

(French Academy)

   The oldest of the five academies that form the institut de France (French Institute), which was founded by Cardinal richelieu in 1634, the Académie française was at first composed of a group of literary figures who were joined, little by little, by statesmen, lawyers, and doctors. Officially authorized in 1635 by louis x III, the Académie française held its first meetings at the homes of its members, then at the Chancellery, and finally at the louvre up to the revolution of 1789. It was dissolved in 1793, then reestablished in 1803 when napoléon i installed the Académie française in the Collège de Quatre-Nations, today the site of the French Institute. The Academie française includes, at its full meetings, 40 members who have the tasks of editing and updating the Dictionnaire de la langue française (the present ninth edition of which includes words done since 1986) and to award the prizes for literature, history, and achievement. in 1980, the Academie française elected marguerite yourcenar as its first female member.