Hélène Carrere d’Encause: Permanent Secretary of the French Academy since 1999,  she is a historian specializing in Russian history. She is best known as the author of the book “L’Empire éclaté” that brought her media fame. In the book she tried to demonstrate, as early as 1978, the imminent end of the Soviet Union. Descendant of a family of Russian aristocrats she rejoiced a predisposition for history and political science. After graduating the elite Institute of Political Studies of Paris she taught these two subjects first at the University of Sorbonne and then at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris. In 1990 she was elected a member of the French Academy. She is a prolific writer and the author of several biographies including the biography of Lenin.