Photography, courtesy of L’Academie francaise.
L’Académie française has welcomed its newest “immortal” member, the Quebecer Dany Laferrière.
By Roy Lie A Tjam.
On Thursday 28th May 2015, the novelist Dany Laferrière was received in a solemn ceremony under the Dome of L’Académie française by Mr. Amin Maalouf, becoming the first Canadian of Haitian origin to be admitted to the prestigious hemicycle of L’Academie française.
It was a great personal honour to have attended the session under the Dome of L’Académie française, an exclusive gathering in the presence of many international dignitaries. As one of Caribbean origin, it was indeed momentous to witness a son of the Caribbean with the calibre of Dany Laferrière being inducted into such a prestigious institution.
For a full photo-album on this memorable occasion, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/sets/72157652673829803
L’Académie Française was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635 during the reign of Louis XIII. The mandate of this exclusive institution is to maintain the purity and integrity of the French language. The members of L’Académie française are known as the Immortals, referring to the immortality of the language rather than the individual. Laferrière will occupy chair no. F2 in the 40-seat body.
L’Académie française is an institution which holds true to its customs. Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Dany Laferrière delivered his oration of acceptance and subsequently paid homage to his predecessor of chair F2, Mr. Hector Bianciotti. In line with tradition, Mr. Amin Maalouf who presided over the ceremony then responded to Dany Laferrière’s acceptance speech.
Sublimely outfitted, Dany sported a magnificent green coat created by Quebec designer Jean-Claude Poitras which required 650 hours of work to complete – including 500hrs dedicated solely to embroidery. At his side hung a sword fashioned in Haiti by sculptor Patrick Vilaire, Dany the man: Dany Laferrière, né Windsor Klébert Laferrière after his father, was born in Port-au-Prince in Haïti 62 years ago.
His father was the mayor of Port au-Prince and a staunch opponent of President Duvalier. Laferrière Sr. eventually fled into exile, an act which adversely affected his family. Upon his father’s departure, the then-five year old Dany and his siblings grew up under the care of their grandmother in the southern city of Petit-Goâve.
It was his grandmother Da, a well-educated woman, who inculcated in Dany his love of literature and poetry. In L’Odeur du café (1991) he pays a fond tribute to her. Seven of his books have been translated into English, and some also have been translated into Spanish, Korean, and Swedish. He is one of the few writers of his generation to be as well known in English as he is in French.
What more could be said of Dany Laferrière? He is elegant, reserved, approachable and courteous. Always himself and always modest, he is thoughtful, sincere and playful. He will be comfortable among his peers at the Academy where he occupies the second seat, that of the illustrious Montesquieu but also that of the giant, the mulatto from Haiti: Alexandre Dumas (son) grandson of a black slave woman, Dumas.
In 1976, after the assassination of his journalist friend Gasner Raymond, Dany Laferrière did as his father did before him and went into exile. For almost a decade he did odd jobs and worked as a journalist in Montreal, while writing at night to exorcise his pain. In 1985, Dany published his first novel: “How to make love to a Negro without getting tired.” It was an immediate success, translated into eleven languages. To date, Dany has written 23 books, the first of which will be made into a film. Another, “The Enigma of the Return” (2009), received the Prix Médicis.
Membership of L’Académie française is considered the highest honour in French literature, as it is the oldest institution to bring French writers together to support and preserve the French language.
Dany Laferrière joins the ranks of literary greats such Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Montesquieu, Dumas and Lafontaine. Dany Laferrièe is also the second black person to be admitted to L’Académie française, the first being Senegalese President and writer Mr. Leopold Sédar Senghor.
The following French distinctions have been bestowed upon Dany Laferrière:
Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
Commandeur de l’ordre de la Pléiade
Various dignitaries attended Dany Laferriere’s induction, including French President François Hollande, Fleur Pellerin, Ministre de la Culture, and Annick Girardin, Secrétaire d’état à la Francophonie & Développement. They were joined by Philippe Couillard, Premier Ministre of Québec, Hélène David, Ministre de la Culture Québec, H.E. Dithny Joan Raton, Ministre de Culture République d’Haïti, and Madame Joëlle Milquet, Ministre de la Culture de la Confédération Francophone de Belgique.
Also in attendance were Monsieur Pierre Karl Pélandeau, Chef de l’opposition du Québec, H. E. Ambassador Lawrence Canonn of Canada to France, S.E Madame Vanessa Matignon, Ambassadeur de la République d’Haïti to France,
Madame Michaèle Jean, Secrétaire Générale de L’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Françoise David, Michèle Pierre-Louis, Lorraine Mangonès, The Minister of Patrimoine Canadien et des Langues officielles, Shelly Glover. Moreover, many distinguished writers from Haiti, Québec, Guadeloupe, France and Africa were present for the ceremony.
Haiti and Canada are rightly proud of Dany, a Canadian citizen born in Haiti in 1953 whose achievements were so aptly celebrated on 28th May. His induction into French literature’s greatest institution is a reason to rejoice. “I was born in Haïti but born a writer in Québec,” declared Dany Laferrière.
