Who will succeed Hélène Carrère d’Encausse as Permanent Secretary? Until now, we believed that the chips were down: Amin Maalouf was the only one to stand as a candidate and seemed not to achieve unanimous support, but consensus. And here, without it being official, we are talking about a candidacy from Jean-Christophe Rufin. This is a twist, because Rufin had suggested that he did not want the office. But, undoubtedly, for democratic reasons he wanted there to be a real election offering a choice between at least two candidates.
Since the death of Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, historian and specialist in Russia, on August 5 at the age of 94, the essential office of the Perpetual Secretariat has been vacant, which has not happened since 1944. .
Nothing is provided in the statutes for one of the immortals to ensure the transition. At the end of last week, the academicians finally agreed to appoint the dean of the Company, Pierre Rosenberg, so that he can organize an election to designate the new “Perpetual”. It will take place on Thursday September 28, in the afternoon.
The surprising thing about this succession “fight” is that it will take place between two great friends, Amin Maalouf appreciates Jean-Christophe Rufin, and vice versa. Moreover, the second had received the first at the French Academy, with a strong and moving reception speech, it was in June 2012.
The election to the position of Permanent Secretary held by Hélène Carrère d’Encausse for almost a quarter of a century is a decisive moment for the Company. It is a heavy burden which consists of embodying France in the world, of defending and promoting the French language in all territories and of confronting increasingly invasive anglicisms or inclusive writing.
At the same time, the Perpetual Secretary, supported by the other immortals and the staff of the Academy, must deal almost daily with the life of the institution, and, a task which requires a lot of diplomacy: finding talents to occupy vacant chairs. Because there are still five Immortals to replace: Marc Fumaroli, Jean-Denis Bredin, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, René de Obaldia, and Hélène Carrère d’Encausse.