Xavier Darcos

About Xavier Darcos

Xavier Darcos is an agrégé of the University, holding a doctorate in Latin studies from the University of Bordeaux and a State doctorate in letters and human sciences.

He began his teaching career in September 1968. He first taught in Périgueux, then became a professor of khâgne at Lycée Montaigne in Bordeaux and at Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. In 1989, Mr. Darcos was elected deputy mayor of Périgueux, then served as mayor of Périgueux from 1997 to 2009, senator of Dordogne from 1998 to 2002, and regional councilor of Aquitaine from 2004 to 2011.

Appointed Inspector General of National Education in 1992, he held the position of Chief of Staff to the Minister of National Education (Mr. François Bayrou) starting in 1993, served as advisor for education and culture to the Prime Minister (Mr. Alain Juppé, 1995-1997), and was Dean of the General Inspectorate of National Education from 1995 to 1998.

In May 2002, he was appointed Minister Delegate for School Education in the government of Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, and from April 1, 2004, Minister Delegate for Cooperation, Development, and Francophonie. In June 2005, Mr. Darcos became ambassador, permanent representative of France to the OECD. On May 18, 2007, he was appointed Minister of National Education, and then Minister of Labor, Social Relations, Family, Solidarity, and City on June 23, 2009, in the government of Mr. François Fillon, which he left on March 22, 2010. Appointed in June 2010 as “ambassador, in charge of mission for France’s external cultural action,” he was tasked with creating the Institut français, of which he was the first Executive President from January 2011 to January 2015. Since that date, he has been “ambassador for the promotion of French abroad.”

Elected to the Académie des sciences morales et politiques in 2006, he has been the Permanent Secretary of this academy since 2010 and was elected to the Académie française in June 2013.

Xavier Darcos is the author of numerous educational publications and academic works, particularly on literary history (his Histoire de la littérature française, published by Hachette, is a classic that is continually reissued), on secularism, and on education. He has written a biography of Mérimée and published studies on Latin antiquity, notably on Tacitus and Ovid. His latest books include Une anthologie historique de la poésie française (2011, PUF), Dictionnaire amoureux de la Rome antique (2011, Plon), and Oscar always has a point (2013, Plon).