Section V – History, literature and arts of air and space

Section V is active in three areas: history, literature and the arts. Its primary objective is to contribute to the defense of the French language in the aerospace field, where anarchic and lazy transposition of English terms is contributing to its denaturing. It is in this spirit that a “Franglais-French lexicon of current aeronautical terms and collection of usual barbarisms”was drawn up in 2009. An expanded edition was published in October 2017. In the same spirit, some members of Section V systematically proofread all Academy publications, including the bimonthly Lettre and dossiers, and, if necessary, suggest corrections.

In 2005, section V elaborated and published the biographical dictionary “Les Français du Ciel, dictionnaire historique”, published by Cherche Midi editions. This book retraces the French history of the conquest of the skies through the eyes of those who made it happen: forerunners, pioneers, captains of industry, aces of war, airliner pioneers, test pilots, spacemen, people in the field and decision-makers – these are the timeless players in the celestial theater. From the very beginning, women have played a role in this man’s profession, a role that justifies the celebrity of many of them. Alongside the biographical section, a thematic section describes the history of the institutions and companies where the talent of air and space personalities has been expressed, from the origins to the present day. An update, to be published on the Académie’s website, is currently being prepared to take into account, in particular, the major changes that have occurred in both the structures of the aerospace industry and the organization of the armed forces since the 1st edition of the book.

Section V is also responsible for making the Academy’s voice heard at colloquia, seminars, etc. on subjects within its remit. The same applies to the arts, in the form of paintings and sculptures.

Members and correspondents of the section, by the nature of their activity as historians or journalists, regularly publish books and articles or intervene in the audiovisual sector.