Hélène Zourabichvili

Hélène Zourabichvili was born in Paris to Georgian aristocratic refugee parents who fled the Bolsheviks; her cousin Salomé Zourabichvili later became President of Georgia. She studied history and political science at the Sorbonne and Sciences Po, becoming France's foremost academic authority on Russian and Soviet history.

In 1978, Carrère d'Encausse published her prophetic international bestseller L'Empire éclaté (Decline of an Empire), predicting with extraordinary precision that demographic growth and ethnic resurgence in the Central Asian republics would fracture and destroy the USSR. Elected to the Académie française in 1990, she was chosen in 1999 as its Perpetual Secretary (Secrétaire perpétuel)—the first woman ever to head the revered 365-year-old institution safeguarding the French language, holding the post until her death. She also served as a Member of the European Parliament and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.