Bruno Racine (born 17 December 1951 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) is a French

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and writer.

Early life and education

Racine is the son of Pierre Racine (a conseiller d'État) and Edwina Morgulis, Bruno Racine was born in

. He studied at the École La Rochefoucauld then at the

lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...

before entering the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

in 1971 and obtaining an

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in "lettres classiques". He also followed courses at the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

and entered the

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

in 1977.

Career

Racine left the ENA for the

Cour des Comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' (, "Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 ...

where he was named auditor in 1979 then "conseiller référendaire" in 1983. On 5 September 1981, he married Béatrice de Bégon de Larouzière-Montlosier, and they have had 4 children. Racine entered the service for strategic affairs and disarmament in the Ministry of Foreign Relations (1983–1986) before joining the cabinet of

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

as a ' chargé de mission' (1986–1988). In 1988, he was named director of cultural affairs for the city of Paris, occupying that post until 1993, when he joined the cabinet of

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

, again as "chargé de mission auprès du ministre", and at the same time director of the Centre d'analyse et de prévision (1993–1995). He then followed him to Matignon as "chargé de mission auprès du Premier ministre", with particular concern for the cultural and strategic portfolios (1995–1997). Promoted to conseiller maître à la Cour des comptes (1996), Racine became director of the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

(1997–2002) before being named president of the Centre Georges-Pompidou (2002). In March 2007, Racine was made president of the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

, to take effect on 2 April 2007, succeeding

Jean-Noël Jeanneney Jean-Noël Jeanneney (born 2 April 1942, in Grenoble) is a French historian and politician. He is the son of Jean-Marcel Jeanneney and the grandson of Jules Jeanneney, both important figures in French politics. Education After his secondary sch ...

, who had reached the age limit for that post. Following the declaration in January 2009 by

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

, Christine Albanel that the archives of

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situat ...

constituted a

national treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

, Racine was tasked with ensuring the necessary funds – amounting to several hundred thousand euros – for the BNF to purchase them from

Alice Becker-Ho Alice Becker-Ho, also known as Alice Debord (born August 6, 1941), is a Chinese-born French intellectual closely associated with the Situationist International. Among other works, she has written poetry, a scholarly study of slang, and a trave ...

, Debord's widow. Following his departure in 2016, Racine was succeeded as president of the

Laurence Engel Laurence Engel (born 17 September 1966) is a French essayist and senior civil servant. In 2016, she was appointed president of the Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two ...

, who took up the post on the 11 April 2016.

Other activities

* Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2001)Governance
Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS). * Haut conseil de l’éducation, Member (since 2005)

Works

* ''Le Gouverneur de Morée'', 1982, Prix du Premier Roman * ''Terre de promission'', 1986 * ''Au péril de la mer'', 1991,

Prix des Deux Magots The Prix des Deux Magots () is a major French literary prize. It is presented to new works, and is generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt. The name derives ...

1992 * ''La Séparation des biens'', 1999, Prix La Bruyère from the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

1999 * ''L'Art de vivre à Rome'' (collaboration), 1999, Grand prix du livre des arts from the

Société des gens de lettres The Société des gens de lettres de France (SGDLF; ; ) is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors George Sand, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Alexandre Dumas. It is a private association recognised in France as ...

2000 * ''L'Art de vivre en Toscane'', 2000 * ''Le tombeau de la Chrétienne'', 2002 * ''Le côté d'Odessa'', 2007 * ''Google et le nouveau monde'', 2010 * ''Adieu à l'Italie'', 2012

Honours

*Knight of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

References

* ''

Who's Who in France The pronoun ''who'', in English, is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used primarily to refer to persons. Unmarked, ''who'' is the pronoun's subjective form; its inflected forms are the objective ''whom'' and the possessive ...

'', 34e édition, 2002–2003, Levallois-Perret, Éditions Jacques Lafitte, 2002, p. 1566 {{DEFAULTSORT:Racine, Bruno 1951 births Living people Writers from Paris French civil servants Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni École Normale Supérieure alumni Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Prix des Deux Magots winners Prix du premier roman winners French male writers Officers of the Legion of Honour Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres