An extraordinary session of the French and Romanian Academies to mark the 145th anniversary of French-Romanian diplomatic relations took place last week at the Institut de France in Paris.The meeting, on the theme "Sapere aude" ("Dare to know"), which was attended by the Secretary of State for European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), Clara Staicu, was chaired by the two heads of the academies: Amin Maalouf, perpetual secretary of the French Academy and Ioan-Aurel Pop, president of the Romanian Academy.The addresses of the two presidents were followed by interventions on special topics by members of the Romanian Academy and members of the French Academy. On the French side, the good relations, the presence of French scholars in Romania and the very good perspectives of future collaboration were emphasized."The interventions were followed by discussions that explored the Franco-Romanian scientific cooperation and the evolution of sciences in Romania, including humanities, in the light of collaboration with France; the cultural cooperation between our countries, with an emphasis on the theatrical dimension; the correlation of the ideas of science, democracy and truth; the importance of multilingualism, of the French language, of Latin and of the francophonie for the promotion of pluralistic societies," the Romanian Embassy in Paris said.Constantin Chiriac, president of the Sibiu International Theatre Festival and director of the Radu Stanca National Theatre of Sibiu, who has recently been heading a performing arts institute organized within the Romanian Academy, gave a speech on Romanian theatre.These sessions are unique, as the Romanian Academy was organized in the 19th century following the model of the French Academy. (Photo:https://www.facebook.com/)