Film screening of Quand l'Europe parlait français (ARTE documentary, 51 min.)

Conversation with Marc Fumaroli to follow, with book signing by the author

Conversation in French, Film in French without subtitles

Marc Fumaroli discusses his book, When the World Spoke French, just translated into English by Richard Howard. During the eighteenth century, French culture set the standard for all of Europe. Among kings and queens, diplomats, military leaders, writers, aristocrats, and artists, French was the universal language of politics and intellectual life. In When the World Spoke French, Fumaroli presents a gallery of portraits of Europeans and Americans who conversed and corresponded in French, along with excerpts from their writings.

Marc Fumaroli is a scholar of French classical rhetoric and art and a member of the Académie française and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His distinctions include the Monseigneur Marcel Prize (1982) and Critique Prize (1992) from the Académie française.

Support for this event is provided by the Florence Gould Foundation

For the New York Times review of When the World Spoke French click here.

For the Wall Street Journal review click here.

For the New York Review Books review click here.