French literary academy, established by the French first minister Cardinal de Richelieu in 1634 and incorporated in 1635, and existing, except for an interruption during the era of the French Revolution, to the present day. Its original purpose was to maintain standards of literary taste and to establish the literary language. Its membership is limited to 40. Though it has often acted as a conservative body, opposed to innovations in literary content and form, its membership has included most of the great names of French literature—e.g., Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Voltaire, the Viscount de Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, Joseph-Ernest Renan, and Henri Bergson. Among numerous European literary academies, it has consistently retained the highest prestige over the longest period of time.