Ordre des Palmes académiquesThe Ordre des Palmes académiques (French for "Order of Academic Palms") is a national order bestowed by the French Republic on distinguished academics and teachers and for valuable service to universities, education and science. Originally established in 1808 by Emperor Napoleon as a decoration to honour eminent members of the University of Paris, it was changed into its current form as an order of merit on 4 October 1955 by President René Coty, making it one of the oldest civil honours bestowed by the French Republic.
Blaise de VigenèreBlaise de Vigenère (5 April 1523 – 19 February 1596) (viʒnɛːʁ) was a French diplomat, cryptographer, translator and alchemist. Vigenère was born into a respectable family in the village of Saint-Pourçain in Bourbonnais. When he was 12, his father, Jehan (modern spelling Jean) de Vigenère, arranged for him to have a classical education in Paris. Registered at the university at 14, he quit after three years without a known degree. From 1539 to around 1545, he worked under Gilbert Bayard, a first secretary to King Francis I, who had fiefs in Bourbonnais.
Esquisse d'un Programme"Esquisse d'un Programme" (Sketch of a Programme) is a famous proposal for long-term mathematical research made by the German-born, French mathematician Alexander Grothendieck in 1984. He pursued the sequence of logically linked ideas in his important project proposal from 1984 until 1988, but his proposed research continues to date to be of major interest in several branches of advanced mathematics. Grothendieck's vision provides inspiration today for several developments in mathematics such as the extension and generalization of Galois theory, which is currently being extended based on his original proposal.
Marcela IacubMarcela Iacub (born 1964) is an Argentine writer and jurist specializing in bioethics research, living in France. In 2013, Iacub was successfully sued for invasion of privacy by Dominique Strauss-Kahn: her novel Belle et Bête included a character based on him. The daughter of a lawyer, she was born and raised in Buenos Aires into an Argentine family of Jewish background. Her family ancestors were Belarusian and Ukrainian Jews, although she considers herself as an atheist.
Georges MenahemGeorges Menahem is a French sociologist and economist whose work employs methods drawn from economics, sociology and statistics. He is a Research Director in the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Previously, he had been a senior research fellow in the Institute for Research and Information in Health Economics (IRDES), a French research institute specializing in health economics and health statistics. Georges Menahem began his university training at Grenoble University (France) where he graduated in mathematics and physics.
Villefranche-sur-MerVillefranche-sur-Mer (USˌviːl(ə)ˈfrɑ̃ʃ_sʊər_ˈmɛər, vilfʁɑ̃ʃ syʁ mɛʁ; Vilafranca de Mar ˌvilɔˈfʀaŋkɔ de ˈmaʀ; Villafranca Marittima ˌvillaˈfraŋka maˈrittima) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located south-west of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian border. Villefranche-sur-Mer is immediately to the east of the city of Nice, along Mont Boron, Mont Alban and Mont Vinaigrier, and south-west of Monaco.
Pierre AnctilPierre Anctil is a Canadian historian. He is specialist of the Jewish community of Montreal, of Yiddish literature and of the poetic work of Jacob-Isaac Segal. He also published on the history of immigration to Canada. He translated a dozen Yiddish books into French. Anctil was born in Quebec City. He graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in social anthropology at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1980.
Jeanne GaillardJeanne Gaillard (23 December 1909 – 19 September 1983) was a French historian and a member of the French Resistance during the Second World War. She was born at La Rochelle. Her father, a career officer, having been killed during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, she grew up at Béziers and received a scholarship to enable her to study history at Montpellier. After graduating in 1930, she became a teacher, holding positions at Guéret and Toulouse and, in 1936, at the Lycée Jules-Ferry in Paris, where she continued until 1950.
Marquis de CondorcetMarie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis of Condorcet (maʁi ʒɑ̃ ɑ̃twan nikɔla də kaʁita maʁki də kɔ̃dɔʁsɛ; 17 September 1743 – 29 March 1794), known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher and mathematician. His ideas, including support for a liberal economy, free and equal public instruction, constitutional government, and equal rights for women and people of all races, have been said to embody the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, of which he has been called the "last witness", and Enlightenment rationalism.
Conservatoire de ParisThe Conservatoire de Paris (kɔ̃sɛʁvatwaʁ də paʁi), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. The Conservatoire offers instruction in music and dance, drawing on the traditions of the 'French School'.
