Algerian writer Boualem Sansal among the 'immortals of France'

Known abroad for his writings and speeches against Islamic fundamentalism, as well as for his novels, a few months after his release from the Algerian prison in which he had been imprisoned, the naturalised French writer Boualem Sansal is - as predicted - as of today an elected member of the most prestigious cultural institution beyond the Alps. At eighty-one years of age, Sansal is in fact among the 'Immortals of France' of the Académie française. For his election, according to the transalpine press, he earned five fundamental atouts: "he is a good 'camarade', he has well-established ties with the Académie, he is highly regarded as a symbol of freedom, he is a great writer and a defender of the French language".

Boualem Sansal is the author of some thirty novels, including "The Erlingen Train" and "Living. The Countdown", as well as collections of short stories and essays since 1999. In 2015, he received the Grand Prix du novel from the French Academy for "2084. La fin du monde", inspired by George Orwell's "1984", ex aequo with Hédi Kaddour.

His work for the Académie française stands out 'because of its literary qualities as well as its political connotation and courage', as Le Figarò points out. Moreover, to borrow the words of Jean-François Colosimo, managing director of Éditions du Cerf, 'his books are endowed with prophetic value'.

The members of the prestigious French institution created by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635 (far more 'powerful' than the corresponding local Accademia della Crusca), according to Le Figaro, gave him 25 out of 26 votes, thus elevating him to the 746th 'immortal' seat. He will sit in chair number 3, that of French lawyer Jean-Denis Bredin. who passed away in 2021. There were six contenders for the seat among the 35 current members of the institution that meets under the famous 'Coupole' on the banks of the Seine, and Sansal was by far the most famous among them. A first vote for the prestigious post had taken place on 11 December, but no candidate had obtained a majority. (To name only the most famous, the Académie counts Voltaire, Montesquieu, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, and first woman Marguerite Yourcenar among its members, as well as Assia Djebar and Simone Veil).

The life of the writer, born in Algeria in the small mountainous town of Theniet El Had on 15 October 1949, a former civil servant, was turned upside down on 16 November 2024, when he was arrested on his arrival in Algiers from Paris and imprisoned. His case aroused great emotion in France, where a campaign was launched in his favour.