Hélène Carrère d'Encausse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hélène Carrère d'Encausse
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Carrère d’Encausse in 2013
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| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 1994–1999 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
Hélène Zourabichvili
6 July 1929 16th arrondissement of Paris, France |
| Died | 5 August 2023 (aged 94) Paris, France |
| Spouse |
Louis Carrère
(m. 1952) |
| Children |
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| Parent | Georges Zourabichvili (fr) |
| Relatives |
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| Education | Lycée Molière |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Known for | Member of the Académie Française |
| Awards |
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Hélène Carrère d'Encausse ( born Hélène Zourabichvili; 6 July 1929 – 5 August 2023) was a French political historian of Georgian origin, specializing in Russian history. From 1999 up until her death in 2023, she served as the Perpetual Secretary of the Académie française, to which she was first elected in 1990.
Carrère d'Encausse was a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999, representing the Gaullist-conservative party RPR. She was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal and Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 2008 and 2011, respectively. She was a cousin of Salome Zourabichvili, the current President of Georgia. In 2023 she was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award in Social Sciences.
Family and career
Carrère d'Encausse was born Hélène Zourabichvili in Paris into a family of Georgian émigrés. She was a cousin of Salome Zourabichvili, the current President of Georgia. Her son, Emmanuel Carrère (born 1957), is a French author, screenwriter and director. Carrère d'Encausse graduated from Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris and was elected to seat 14 of the Académie française in 1990, later becoming the Académie's Perpetual Secretary in 1999. Her academician's sword was made by a Franco-Georgian sculptor Goudji.
Russian scholarship
The bulk of Carrère d'Encausse's work was centered on the topics of Russia and the Soviet Union. She had over two dozen books published in French, many of which have been translated into English. Her 1978 work L'empire éclaté: La révolte des nations en U.R.S.S (English version, Decline of an Empire: The Soviet Socialist Republics in Revolt) predicted that the Soviet Union was destined to break up along the lines of its 15 constituent republics. In commenting on current Russian affairs, Carrère d'Encausse warned against applying Western yardsticks to Russian democracy and has said that she regrets the "excessive diabolization" of the regime of Vladimir Putin.
Honours
Belgium : Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
Brazil : Commander of the Order of the Southern Cross
France : Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (2011)- France : Officer of the National Order of Merit
- France : Commander of the Ordre des Palmes académiques
- France : Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Monaco : Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit (November 1999)
Poland : Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland
Russia : Medal of the Order of Honour (Russia)
See also
In Spanish: Hélène Carrère d'Encausse para niños
