Le Siècle is an

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

transpartisan social club in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

that meets once a month for dinner at the French Automobile Club 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 ...

Place de la Concorde The Place de la Concorde (; ) is a public square in Paris, France. Measuring in area, it is the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. It was the s ...

.AFP, '"Le Siècle": Nicole Notat présidente', in ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'', 12/11/201

/ref>Rachida Dati, ''Fille de M'Barek et de Fatim-Zhora: Ministre de la Justice'', Paris: XO Editions, 2011, pp. 197-199Frédéric Saliba
"Le pouvoir à la table du Siècle"
'' Stratégies'', issue 1365, April 14, 2005, p. 49. Membership in Le Siècle "symbolizes the French nomenklatura" and includes France's top intellectuals, politicians, chief executives, journalists, and artists; since the 1970s, one-third to half of all

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

ministers were members of Le Siècle, regardless of political affiliation or party membership.

History

Le Siècle was founded in 1944 by Georges Bérard-Quélin, a journalist and

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. The small group of the 1940s and 1950s eventually expanded to include major politicians across the political spectrum, from

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

, who was a close associate of Bérard-Quélin, to

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

via Pierre Mendès France. When a similar think tank called the Saint-Simon Foundation dissolved in 1999, many of its former members joined Le Siècle. Former CFDT Secretary General Nicole Notat has served as president of Le Siècle; not only is she the first woman to serve as president, she was also the first woman to lead a trade union in France.

Membership

Membership in Le Siècle "symbolizes the French nomenklatura" and includes France's top intellectuals, politicians, chief executives, journalists, and artists. In fact, between one-third and a half of all

ministers were members of Le Siècle since the 1970s, regardless of political affiliation or party membership. That percentage peaked at 72% under

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 ...

Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, co ...

(1993–95). French journalist and writer Emmanuel Ratier wrote in 1996 that the club's membership controls 90% of French GDP. According to a 2011 article in '' Le Monde diplomatique'', the members of Le Siècle are predominantly: * Male (85%) * Over 55 years old (80%) * The sons of captains of industry, high-ranking public servants, or senior liberal professionals (55%) * Graduates of the Institute of Political Studies (50%) and 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 ...

(40%) * From families with highly qualified engineers and links to significant business interests (25%) There are 580 members, subject to change every year, and 160 guests.

List of members

* Claude Bébéar, former CEO of

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

. * Thierry Breton, CEO of

Atos Atos SE is a European multinational information technology (IT) service and consulting company with headquarters in Bezons suburb of Paris, France, and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services, unified communicat ...

, former minister of economy, finance, and industry (2005–2007). * Emmanuel Chain, former TV presenter on M6. * Jean-Marie Colombani, former editor-in-chief of ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' (1994–2007). * Jean-François Copé, president of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

; member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

(2002-incumbent); Mayor of

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

(1995–2002; 2005-incumbent); former Minister of the Budget (2005–2007). * Michèle Cotta, first female member in 1983; political journalist. * Anne-Marie Couderc, CEO of Presstalis. *

Rachida Dati Rachida Dati (, ; born 27 November 1965) is a French politician and former magistrate who has been Minister of Culture (France), Minister of Culture since January 2024 in the Attal government, government of Gabriel Attal, the Barnier government, ...

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

and mayor of the

7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is known for being, along with the 16th arrondissement and the ''commune'' of Neuilly-sur-Sein ...

; former Minister of justice (2007–2009). * Renaud Denoix de Saint Marc, member of the Constitutional Council of France (2007-incumbent). * Olivier Duhamel, vice-president of Le Siècle (2010-incumbent); professor 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 ...

; former

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

(1997–2004). *

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

, former prime minister (1984–1986). * François Fillon, prime minister (2007–2012); former minister of National Education (2004–2005); former minister of social affairs (2002–2004). * Claude Imbert, founding editor of ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

''. * Odile Jacob, publisher. * Denis Jeambar, journalist. * Laurent Joffrin former editor-in-chief of ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' (2006–2011). *

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

, former prime minister (1997–2002), former minister of National Education (1988–1992); former minister of sport (1988–1991). * Serge July, founding editor of ''

''. * Denis Kessler, CEO of Scor, former president of Le Siècle (2007–2010). * Étienne Lacour, secretary general of Le Siècle; editor-in-chief of the Société Générale de Presse. * Maurice Lévy, CEO of

Publicis Publicis Groupe S.A. is a French multinational advertising and public relations company. As of 2024, the company is the largest advertising company in the world by revenue. Based in Paris, it is one of the 'Big Four' advertising commpanies, al ...

. * Henri Loyrette, vice-president of Le Siècle (2010-incumbent); director of the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

(2001-incumbent). * Nicole Notat, president of Le Siècle (2010-incumbent); CEO of Vigeo; former secretary general of the CFDT. * Michel Pébereau, CEO of BNP Paribas. * Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, newscaster on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

. * Alain de Pouzilhac, former CEO of

Havas Havas NV () is a French multinational corporation, multinational advertising agency, advertising and public relations company, with its registered office and head office in Puteaux, France. Havas operates in more than 100 countries. The group ...

. * David Pujadas, TV presenter on

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

. * Jean-Pierre Raffarin, member of the

French Senate The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

; former prime minister (2002–2005). * Edouard de Rothschild. *

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

, French president (2007–2012). * Louis Schweitzer, former CEO of

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

. * Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former managing director of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(2007–2011). * Marc Tessier, treasurer of Le Siècle (2010–incumbent); former chairman of

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

. * Philippe Villin, former chairman of ''

'' and '' France Soir''. * Gérard Worms, former CEO of N M Rothschild & Sons.

References

External links

The official website

LeSiecle.info a website dealing with the club Le Siècle latest news
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Siecle (think tank) 1944 establishments in France Learned societies of France