First chairwoman of top language body 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 fran莽aise dies at 94
H茅l猫ne Carr猫re d鈥橢ncausse recently told The Connexion she was not worried about anglicisms but did fear French was being abused and impoverished
H茅l猫ne Carr猫re d鈥橢ncausse was only the third woman to join the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别
Michel Monsay - 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 fran莽aise
The woman who chaired France鈥檚 top language guardians the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 fran莽aise for 24 years 鈥� after being only the third woman in its history to join 鈥� has died aged 94.
H茅l猫ne Carr猫re d鈥橢ncausse, whom The Connexion interviewed for our July editionat her Paris flat overlooking the Louvre, was respected in her 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 role as 鈥榩erpetual secretary鈥� and was also well-known as a historian of Russia, often sought out by media for her expert commentary.
Born in Paris in 1929 to immigrant parents, she was stateless until taking French nationality in 1950, aged 21. She later described herself as 鈥渁 case of perfect integration鈥� saying 鈥渋n my identity I feel French but I have two cultures鈥�.
Her family, from Georgia, had fled after the Russian Revolution and the invasion of Georgia by the Bolsheviks (her father was Georgian and her mother Russian-German). Her father, known to have acted as an interpreter for the Germans during World War Two, 鈥榙isappeared鈥� after the liberation of France.
Mrs Carr猫re d鈥橢ncausse鈥檚 son, Emmanuel, revealed the family tragedy in a 2007 book, which described how his grandfather was taken away by strangers and never seen again.
She went on, however, to brilliant studies, gaining a literature doctorate and teaching history at the Sorbonne and Sciences Po. She was also the author of some 30 books, including biographies of Lenin, Stalin and Catherine the Great, as well as the bestselling l鈥�Empire 茅clat茅 (1978) in which she predicted the break-up of the Soviet Union. She was elected to the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 in 1990 and received many honours, including the top 鈥�Grand-croix鈥� level of the L茅gion d鈥檋onneur.
Mrs Carr猫re d鈥橢ncausse loved Russia and argued that it was important for Europe to help to integrate the country after the break-up of the USSR. She had on occasion defended Vladimir Putin as a patriotic Russian seeking to restore the country鈥檚 dignity though adopted a critical position after the war in Ukraine.
In our recent interview, she stated she had not anticipated the war, but 鈥渒new that Europe had not found peace with Russia following the downfall of the USSR鈥�.
As perpetual secretary of the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别, she chaired its meetings and held the institution's highest role. Founded in 1635, its job is to monitor the evolution of the French language and give guidance on good usage, though it does 鈥� very slowly 鈥� change with the times where necessary.
It produces a dictionary, with the eighth, from 1935 still the last complete one. The ninth is up to the letter 鈥楽鈥� and is expected to be finished in two years鈥� time.
She agreed when the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别, usually conservative, officially disapproved of new tendencies to feminise job titles in the late 20th century. However, more recently it relented unanimously, accepting the use of words such as ambassadrice instead of ambassadeur.
Read more: Should the French language be changed to be less masculine?
She also told The Connexion how the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 now, for example, recognised the fact that 鈥渕arriage no longer means 鈥榯he union of a man and a woman鈥� but 鈥榯he union of two people鈥欌��.
She said she hoped to see more women joining the 础肠补诲茅尘颈别, which is still male-dominated (including her, there were seven women out of 40 础肠补诲茅尘颈别 seats).
Even so, she still used the masculine form Mme le secr茅taire perp茅tuel, and not la secr茅taire perp茅tuelle, arguing that it was the job鈥檚 function that was important and that it is unnecessary for it to change with the gender of the person holding it.
She told us she did not worry much about anglicisms, as French and English had always borrowed from each other, but she did fear that French, which should be 鈥減recise and clear鈥�, was becoming more misused and impoverished.
The Elys茅e said in a statement that a national ceremony of homage to Mrs Carr猫re d鈥橢ncausse will be held "before the end of the summer" at Les Invalides.
President Macron referred to her 鈥渆xceptional destiny, characterised by love for our country, its language and culture鈥�.
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