LUXURY FOREVER: France has recognized Bernard Arnault as one of its greatest business minds and elected him to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, whose lifetime members are known in France as Immortals.
The chairman and chief executive officer of luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Arnault becomes what is known as “chair 1” of the academy’s political economy, statistics and finance section.
Other members of this section include economist Pierre-André Chiappori, economist Jean-Claude Casanova, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Jean Tirole.
Arnault fills a position previously held by Denis Kessler, former chairman of the reinsurer Scor, who passed away last year. The luxury titan adds this prestigious title to another French honorific, that of Grand-Croix de la Légion d’honneur, which he received last March.
The Academy of Moral and Political Sciences is one of the five academies that make up the Institut de France, established in 1795 to promote the advancement of knowledge and intellectual excellence in France. Dissolved in 1803 under Napoleon, the academy was reinstated in 1832.
According to the Institut de France, the academy has 50 full members, all French nationals elected by an absolute majority of their peers to a seat left vacant by the death, prolonged absence or resignation of their predecessor.
Other current members include journalist Alain Duhamel, former government ministers Hervé Gaymard and Jean-François Mattei, as well as former European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet.
The academy’s aim is to “provide public and private decision-makers with rigorous and independent analyses, the result of the collective work of its members.”
“It ensures the transmission of knowledge and the preservation of French intellectual heritage through the publication of books, reports, and the organization of conferences.”
According to the academy, gaining entry is a “rare privilege, reserved for a carefully selected intellectual elite. Members are chosen based on their personal achievements and exceptional contributions in their field of expertise.”
