French Academy
French Academy, French literary academy, established by the French first minister Cardinal Richelieu in 1634 and incorporated in 1635. It has existed, except for an interruption during the era of the French Revolution, to the present day.
The original purpose of the French Academy was to maintain standards of literary taste and to establish the literary language. Its membership is limited to 40. Though it has often acted as a conservative body, opposed to innovations in literary content and form, its members (referred to as les immortels) have included many great names in French literature—e.g., Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Voltaire, the vicomte de Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, Joseph-Ernest Renan, Henri Bergson, Eugène Ionesco, and Assia Djebar. Its membership has also included prominent people such as Jacques Cousteau and Claude Lévi-Strauss. Among numerous European literary academies, the French Academy has consistently retained the highest prestige over the longest period of time.