Macron Appoints Politicos Across Left & Right | Francoise Nyssen Is Culture Minister

French president Macron appoints Françoise Nyssen, a publisher, as culture minister.

In FDR's first inaugural address in 1932, America's new president said the "only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

In purely pragmatic terms and for several reasons, France has far more to fear than America. Watching centrist Emmanuel Macron assemble his new cabinet, he seeks to bridge the left-right divide, poaching leading figures from across the political spectrum.

What a change from Trump, who says his only commitment is to the largely white, high-school graduates who voted for him. The rest of Americans can go to hell, as he installs individuals who reject science, educational achievement, women's rights to birth control, labor laws, and goddess knows what other ideas embraced by the other 75% of the country.

With Americans learning that just two months ago, Trump asked then FBI Director Comey if he could imprison journalists, Macron appoints Françoise Nyssen, a publisher, as culture minister.

Belgian-born Nyssen is the CEO of Éditions Actes Sud based in the southern city of Arles, which has published the work of Nobel Laureates Imre Kertész and Svetlana Alexievitch, as well as Prix Goncourt winners Laurent Gaudé, Jérôme Ferrari, and Mathias Ernard.

The trained urban planner has never held public office, but served in the Architecture Department of the Belgium Ministry of the Built Environment for four years before joining the publishing world in 1980 as partner and CEO of Cooperative d’Editions du Paradou. In 1987, Nyssen became partner and president of Actes Sud, the publishing house founded by her father Hybert Nyssen. Under her guidance, she transformed the company into one of the most prestigious and successful French language publishers in the world, realizing a turnover of $85 million in 2015, according to Huffington Post.

Nyssen was made Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters in 2008, and was awarded the rank of “Officier” of the Order of the Legion of Honor in 2013 for her contributions to French literature..

On Wednesday, figures in the French art world reacted optimistically to Nyssen’s appointment.

French gallerist Almine Rech told artnet News, “I think her nomination is a good thing because she has been the brilliant president of Actes Sud for many years, which was founded by her father and is one of the best publishing companies in France. They have published a collection of great books in relation to art, painting, cinema, and photography. Obviously the new minister knows her subject extremely well.”