fjt_0304 - ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE Académie française, émission de 1785 n.d.

FRENCH ACADEMY / ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE

The French Academy was founded in 1635, under the reign of Louis XIII, by Cardinal Richelieu, with the aim of embellishing and perfecting the French language, symbol of the power of the King and the State. It had to be "perfect, clear and precise, capable of marrying the twists and turns of thought, of supplanting Latin and of finishing off lexical and stylistic misuse." Monitoring the language, and therefore the writings, was also a means of thwarting political intrigues... The Academy receives as its seal the motto "to immortality" with a crown of laurels, and the care of writing the Dictionary of the language French. Reading advice: MASSON F., "History of the French Academy, 1629-1793", Paris, 1912.