Gabriel de Broglie, of the French Academy, died at 93

The historian and jurist Gabriel de Broglie, member of the French Academy since 2001, died at the age of 93, the Institut de France and the Academy announced on Thursday January 9.

“The death of Honorary Chancellor Gabriel de Broglie leaves us deeply saddened”wrote the chancellor, Xavier Darcos, on the Institute’s website. The French Academy said he died Wednesday in Paris.

From ORTF to INA

After studying at Sciences Po Paris and the ENA, he joined the Council of State, then was a member of various ministerial cabinets under the presidencies of Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, from 1962 to 1971.

He served as Deputy Director General of ORTF (1971-1974), Director General of Radio France (1975-1979), President of the National Audiovisual Institute (1979-1981) and member of the Haute Authority for audiovisual communication, the ancestor of the current Arcom (1982-1986).

Then he chaired the National Commission for Communication and Liberties (1986-1989) and finally the General Commission for Terminology and Neology (1996-2006).

Armchair 11 of the French Academy

In 2001, he was elected to the French Academy, in chair 11, where the politician Alain Peyrefitte, the writer Paul Morand and the lawyer Maurice Garçon had sat before him. From 2006 to 2017, he became chancellor of the Institut de France.

“For all of us who knew and loved him well, Gabriel de Broglie was not simply this impeccable, courteous and active servant of the State. He was first and foremost a historian, a linguist, a bibliophile, a man of vast culture. His books devoted to Orleanism, the July Monarchy and Guizot are authoritative »said Xavier Darcos.

Gabriel de Broglie came from a famous family of French nobility, which before him, between 1855 and 1987, gave four other members to the French Academy: Victor, Albert, Maurice and finally Louis de Broglie.

After this death, the French Academy had 36 members. Four chairs are to be filled, including one which has been vacant since September 2021.