Xavier Darcos

An agrégé professor in literature and general inspector of the National Education system, he has been Mayor of Périgueux, a Senator, and a minister in Jean-Pierre Raffarin and François Fillon's governments.

After getting a PhD in Latin studies from the University of Bordeaux under the direction of Jean-Pierre Néraudau and becoming a professor emeritus in letters and social sciences, he started teaching in 1968, first in Périgueux, then in a Bordeaux khâgne from 1982 to 1987, and finally at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris from 1987 to 1992.

From 1993 to 1995 he was the chief of staff (directeur de cabinet) to Education Minister François Bayrou, from 1995 to 1997 advisor to Prime Minister Alain Juppé for education and culture matters, and from 1995 to 1998, along with François Bayroux and Claude Allègre, he was the president of school inspectors.

In 2006, he was elected as member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques and was its secrétaire perpétuel from 2010 until 2017.

In 2009, he condemned as "criminal" statements made by Pope Benedict XVI which claimed that condoms promote AIDS, when in fact they help protect against it.