Jules Verne Forum

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This strikes me as a "bit off" as Fogg would say

From: Harry Hayfield <harryhayfield~at~googlemail.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:25:30 -0000
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

BlankI was asked on the YAHOO Answers website this afternoon "Who are able
to be admitted to the French Academy?" and after initally thinking it was a
art college, I discovered it was a reference to the Academie Francais which
is an organisation to which people who have made an impact on French life,
society and politics are able to join (perhaps like the Order of the Garter
here in Britain), so after answering that person's question decided to see
whether Verne made the list of 720 past members and was rather suprised to
find that he had not. I then wondered if he had been given any honours or
titles during his life (again according to Wikipedia, the answer was no) and
when I read that he died again with no posthumous honours and is not even
buried in the Pantheon (despite the fact that Dumas pere was buried there in
2002 and Hugo was buried in 1885). That's what prompted my orginal feeling
of (in my best Fogg impression) "That seems a bit off!"

I am quite sure that if I was from the United States and a member of a
Charles Dickens group and told that Charles Dickens was not buried in Poet's
Corner in Westminster Abbey I would be completely livid that such a famous
person was not being given the recognition he deserved, and yet we seem to
be in a situation where a person who did more to provide France with a
reason for people to visit it seems to be being ignored by the very people
he has helped give quite the tourism trade to (especially in Amiens). Is
there anyway we can try and redress this "offness" and if so, what's the
best way to do it? Should one of our French members stand as an Independent
candidate at the next general election in France and say that if they are
elected he will pilot a bill through Parliament to get Verne formally
recognised?

Received on Thu 18 Mar 2010 - 20:25:44 IST

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