The Decline of an Empire

Decline of an Empire: The Soviet Socialist Republics in Revolt. Hélene Carrere d’Encausse (born Hélene Zourabichvili; 6 July 1929) is a French political historian of Georgian origin, specializing in Russian history. Since 1999, she has served as the Perpetual Secretary of the Académie française, to which she was first elected in 1990. Carrere d’Encausse was a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999, representing the centre-right Rassemblement pour la République. She was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal and Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 2008 and 2011, respectively. She is a cousin of Salome Zourabichvili, the current President of Georgia.