Abstract: A synchronous motor is divulged whose direction of rotation may be chosen, comprising a rotor with permanent magnet and a stator with homopolar field, including a winding fed with an AC voltage. In response to a stopping order, a circuit controls the switch for opening the connection of the winding when the voltage is decreasing in absolute value or is cancelled out and stores the sign of its slope at the time of opening. The circuit controls the switch for closing the connection when the voltage is cancelled out or is increasing in absolute value, with a sign slope identical to, respectively opposite, the stored sign, in accordance with an order for setting in rotation in a direction identical to, respectively opposite, the preceding direction of rotation.