Holocaust survivor and ex-European Parliament leader Veil joins revered Academie Francaise

Holocaust survivor Veil joins Academie Francaise

PARIS — Simone Veil, a French political icon who survived Nazi death camps and went on to become a moral figurehead for France, was inducted Thursday into the Academie Francaise — the sixth woman to cross the portals of the centuries-old institution.

Three French presidents — Nicolas Sarkozy and predecessors Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d’Estaing, himself a member — were present for the ceremony.

The name of Simone Veil, now 82, is synonymous with the battle that she spearheaded to legalize abortion in France. She has twice served as minister, for health and social affairs, and became the first woman president of the European Parliament.

Veil has risen above her personal accomplishments to be considered a leading moral authority in France.

One of France’s most popular public figures, Veil joins a venerable institution considered the guardian of the French language.

The elite academy has 40 members who serve for life and are known as “immortals.” Veil is the sixth woman to join the academy since it was founded by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635. Located along the Seine River in the heart of Paris, the domed landmark is often referred to simply as “the Dome.”

Veil brought her Holocaust experience to her new role. She had her prisoner number from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp engraved on the ceremonial sword given to each academy member. The number remains tattooed on her arm.

In her nearly hour-long acceptance speech, Veil, dressed in the heavily embroidered green outfit worn by academy members, said she was “surprised and in wonderment” at the academy’s invitation to her.

“The Academie Francaise remains the temple of the French language,” she said. But “I myself have no literary pretensions.”

She nevertheless takes seat No. 13, once belonging to 17th-century playwright Racine. Other literary greats like Voltaire and Victor Hugo are among past members.

Veil said that as she spoke, she thought of her mother and father who died in death camps, as did her brother.

The unification of Europe, like women’s rights and maintaining the memory of the Holocaust, has been a prime cause of Veil. She cited Hugo’s belief in European integration then said that France and Germany are “brothers in the past, brothers in the present, brothers in the future.”

Writer Jean d’Ormesson, providing the traditional response to Veil’s acceptance speech, praised her courage and convictions, saluting a woman who “has crossed the fires of hell alive” to become a personage “ahead of history.”

Veil joins another member who was arrested by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France, Andre Frossard. He was held in an internment camp in Montluc, France, then escaped.

Following tradition, Veil’s speech was devoted to the deceased Academy member she is replacing, Pierre Messmer, a former prime minister and defense minister close to Gen. Charles de Gaulle and once a member of the French Foreign Legion.

Four other women currently are members of the academy, including Algerian-born writer Assia Djebar, the first member of North African origin. The first woman invited to join was Marguerite Yourcenar, in 1980.

The elite body spends years updating a dictionary of the French language, and has often decried the invasion of English words.

Veil is also an officer in France’s Legion of Honor.

Associated Press writer Fanny Dassie in Paris contributed to this report.