Charles Hippolyte Marie de Ferry de Fontnouvelle, more commonly known as Count Charles de Ferry de Fontnouvelle or Charles de Fontnouvelle (March 21, 1877 – April 25, 1956), was a French diplomat and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

, who was the

Consulate general of France in New York The French Consulate General is the consular representation of the French Republic in New York City, New York (state), New York, in the United States. The consulate general is housed in the Charles E. Mitchell House, at 934 Fifth Avenue, between ...

from 1931 to 1940, and was the founder of the

Lycée Français de New York The Lycée Français de New York (LFNY), commonly called the Lycée (in English, "The French High School of New York"), is an independent bilingual French school serving an international community of students from Nursery-3 to twelfth grade based ...

. Born in 1877 at

Le Château-d'Oléron Le Château-d'Oléron (; oc, Lo Chasteu d'Olairon) is a commune located on the Island of Oléron, in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France. The town is surrounded by fortifications in the form of a Bastion fort (similar to a ...

on the Île d'Oléron, he attended the School of Political Science at Avignon Université. During his career with the French foreign service, he retained many positions worldwide, including as a member of the French Legation of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

during President

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

's reign, and as consul in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Lisbon, San Juan,

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Liverpool, and Chicago. The Count was an honorary member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

, an officier of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, and a member of the Portuguese Order of Christ. The Count had a great affinity for the culture of the United States and sought to strengthen ties between the two countries in cultural exchange. In 1935, at the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, he established the Lycée Français de New York with the help of French and American officials and a total of only 24 initial students. Today the school, with excess of 1,000 students typically enrolled gives the ''Prix Charles de Ferry de Fontnouvelle'', to honor those who support its educational programs and foster greater cultural exchange between France, the greater

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

diaspora, and the United States. FrenchConsulExequatur1938

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry de Fontnouvelle, Charles de 1877 births 1956 deaths French educators Founders of schools in the United States 20th-century French diplomats Officiers of the Légion d'honneur