"Nearly three months after his release from an Algerian prison, French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was on Thursday elected to become a lifetime member of the Académie Française, the intellectual guardians of the French language. Founded in 1635, the academy is tasked with maintaining the language's purity and publishes an official dictionary. Its members are known as "immortals". The 81-year-old beat five other candidates in a vote for a seat on the body replacing the late lawyer and writer Jean-Denis Bredin, the institution said."
"Sansal spent almost a year imprisoned in Algeria over comments about the country but was pardoned by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on November 12th. In December, the academy awarded Sansal, a fierce critic of the Algerian government, the Cino del Duca World Prize for his work. In 2015, he won the academy's Grand Prix du Roman for his book 2084: The End of the World , a dystopian novel inspired by George Orwell's and set in an Islamist totalitarian world after a nuclear holocaust."
Boualem Sansal, an 81-year-old French-Algerian novelist recently released from an Algerian prison, was elected to a lifetime seat at the Académie Française. The Académie, founded in 1635, maintains the French language and publishes an official dictionary; its members are known as "immortals." Sansal spent almost a year imprisoned over comments about Algeria and was pardoned by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on November 12. He received the Cino del Duca World Prize in December and won the academy's Grand Prix du Roman in 2015 for 2084: The End of the World. Sansal expressed joy in simple freedoms and will be inducted in a closed ceremony receiving a traditional green robe and ceremonial sword.
Read at The Local France
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