Institut de France

The Institut de France is a French institution founded in 1795. It brings together the nation's scientific, literary and artistic elites so that they can work together to advance the sciences and the arts, develop independent thinking and advise the public authorities. This has earned it the nickname "Parliament of the scholarly world". It is under the protection of the President of the Republic and is based on the Quai de Conti, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.

It brings together five academies, whose solemn sittings take place in green academic dress beneath the dome of the former Collège des Quatre-Nations, which houses it:

the Académie française (40 members);

the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (55 members);

the Académie des sciences (250 members under the age of 75, to whom are added those who have passed the age of 75);

the Académie des beaux-arts (67 members);

the Académie des sciences morales et politiques (50 members).

Empowered to receive bequests and donations, the Institut houses numerous foundations that support research and creation through the awarding of prizes, scholarships and grants, as well as the custodians of a substantial heritage of properties and collections bequeathed since the late nineteenth century.