Azoulay surprise choice as France's culture minister

Audrey Azoulay, former culture advisor to French president François Hollande, has replaced Fleur Pellerin as the country's culture and communications minister.

Azoulay’s appointment in last week's government reshuffle came as a surprise. She is unknown to the public and, the daily newspaper Libération reported, was offered the post only about an hour before the reshuffle was announced.

A classmate of Pellerin’s in the Ecole Normale de l’Administration (ENA), which produces most politicians and top civil servants, Azoulay spent eight years as second in command at the National Cinema Centre before joining Hollande’s staff in June 2014.

Pellerin had come under fire on several scores, including her management of the audiovisual sector and lack of cultural knowledge. According to an anecdote doing the rounds, when she expressed misgivings about accepting the culture portfolio, Hollande told her to make a daily call to Jack Lang, the former culture minister behind the 1981 fixed book price law and creator of the Fête de la Musique.

Picture: ActuaLitté