Académie Française, Like Its Nation, Is Hopelessly Divided

“The elite club of 40 ‘immortals,’ as the members are known, that serves as the official guardian of the French language does not admit just anybody.” Indeed, these days they don’t admit anybody at all: there are three vacancies, and the membership cannot agree on candidates to fill them. As one critic puts it, “The academy is a boat adrift in a dry sea.” – The New York Times