00:00 "I sometimes feel that our dreams have made us more than friends, they've made us brothers."
00:06 It's with these words that Jean-Christophe Ruffin welcomed his old friend Amine Marlouf
00:10 to the Académie Française in 2012.
00:14 Yet their 35-year-old friendship now turns to rivalry as the two men compete for the
00:18 position of permanent secretary.
00:21 Born in Beirut in 1949, Marlouf looks the most likely candidate to succeed Hélène
00:26 Carrière-Donkos at the head of the prestigious institution.
00:30 The Franco-Lebanese author whose 1993 novel The Rock of Tagnos was awarded the Prix Goncourt,
00:36 France's top literary award, was the only candidate in the running until Monday's deadline.
00:41 But Ruffin, a former ambassador and recipient of the 2001 Goncourt, threw his hat in the
00:46 ring at the last minute, saying a single candidacy didn't reflect the institution's democratic
00:52 values.
00:53 Whoever comes out on top will need to find ways to boost the Académie's shaky finances,
00:58 but also strive to bring in more youth and diversity among its ranks.
01:03 Of 35 currently occupied seats, only seven are held by women, while the average age of
01:08 the Académie's members is over 70 years old.
01:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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