The philosopher who specializes in Islam, Christian Gambet, was born in Algeria during French colonialism and is fluent in Arabic (Getty)

The philosopher and specialist in Islam, Christian Gambet, was elected yesterday, Thursday, as a member of the French Academy, a few months before he turned 75, the maximum age to join this ancient institution concerned with preserving and strengthening the French language.

Christian Gambet will occupy the sixth seat in the academy, vacant since the death of historian Mark Fumaroli in 2020. He received 13 votes out of 25 in the third round, after 12 in the first and 11 in the second.

His most prominent competitor was the French-Tunisian writer Hedi Kaddour, who received 7 votes in the first round, then 6 in the second, and 3 in the last.

The number of votes received by playwright Jean-Marie Bisset reached 3, while Italian writer Giovanni Dottoli and doctor David Khayat each received one vote.

Christian Gambet was a Maoist (named after the Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong) in his youth and one of the leaders of the proletarian left movement in France in the early 1970s, but in 1977 he joined the “New Philosophy” movement that was hostile to totalitarianism and Marxism-Leninism.

Since his meeting with the orientalist Henry Corbin in the early 1970s, he became passionate about the Persian language, culture, and philosophy, as well as Shiite Islam, to which the majority of Iranians belong.

Among his books in this field is the book “What is Islamic Philosophy?” Published in 2011, and the most recent in 2021 is “The Act of Existence... The Philosophy of Revelation according to Mulla Sadra” by the Persian thinker of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Christian Gambet is also fluent in Arabic, as he was born in Algiers in 1949 during the French colonial period.

Yesterday, Thursday's elections were the first in the French Academy since the French-Lebanese Amin Maalouf became its permanent secretary in September 2023.

With the election of Gambé, the number of members increased to 36 out of 40, while 4 seats remain vacant.

New elections are scheduled to be held on February 29 for the 16th seat previously held by former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Source: French