André Maurois
Notable literary figures lecturing at the Alliance have included Simone de Beauvoir, André Maurois, Jean Giraudoux, Michel Butor, Philippe Claudel (Prix Renaudot), Nobel Laureate J.M.G. LeClézio, François Nourissier, who later became President of the Académie Goncourt, and the philosophers Henri Bergson, Jacques Maritain and former Justice Minister Robert Badinter. Professors from the Sorbonne and other distinguished French universities have given lectures in their areas of expertise at a number of Alliance events over the years.