Bruno Racine

"As a place of creation, Villa Medici continues to welcome some twenty fellows artists of all disciplines every year, and offers its unique setting to multiple events - where the splendors of the past unite with the unexpected of contemporary creation. The Villa Medici is steeped in history, yet forward-looking; it is surrounded by walls, yet open to the outside world, and is thus intimately in tune with the very vocation of the city of Rome." Born on December 17, 1951, Bruno Racine is a Conseiller Maître at the Cour des Comptes, a former student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, an agrégé in Classics, a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and a former student at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. Since 2005, he has chaired the Haut Conseil de l'éducation, and since 2002, the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou. He is currently Chairman of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Previous positions include Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of Paris (1988-1993), chargé de mission to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1993-1995), then to the Prime Minister (1995-1997), and Director of Villa Medici in Rome (1997-2002). He is the author of several novels, including "Le Gouverneur de Morée" (prix du Premier roman, 1982), "Au péril de la mer" (prix des Deux-Magots, 1992) and "Le Tombeau de la Chrétienne" (2002).

1997-2003