The head of the French Academy has accused Paris city council of embracing cancel culture by hiding a statue of Voltaire after “meaningless” assertions that the Enlightenment philosopher was a racist.
Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, 93, the perpetual secretary of the academy, which is tasked with safeguarding the French language, believes the council is seeking to appease activists with ill-conceived views of the 18th-century writer, regarded as one of France’s greatest intellectuals.
