Writer Max Gallo joins Academie Francaise

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — French writer and historian, Max Gallo, was elected Thursday to join the prestigious Academie Francaise, a centuries-old panel of sages that acts as custodian of the French language.

The 75-year-old, who made a name as a prolific author of historical fiction, has also written several dozen history books including best-selling lives of Napolean, Charles de Gaulle and the 19th-century writer Victor Hugo.

Born in 1932 in the Riviera city of Nice to a family of Italian immigrants, Gallo is a one-time communist activist whose writing is known for its patriotic and republican streak.

A former socialist member of parliament and government spokesman, Gallo was one of a string of left-wing thinkers who swung behind right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy during...