The French Consulate General is the consular representation of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The consulate general is housed in the Charles E. Mitchell House, at 934

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

, between East 74th and 75th Streets on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The consulate’s mission is to provide protection and administrative services to French citizens living or traveling in the district. Under the authority of the French Embassy in the United States, its consular district extends across three states (

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

), as well as the British Overseas Territory of

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. Currently housing the consulate general of France, 934 Fifth Avenue was the residence of

Charles E. Mitchell Charles Edwin Mitchell (October 6, 1877 – December 14, 1955) was an American banker whose incautious securities policies facilitated the speculation which led to the Crash of 1929. First National City Bank's (now Citibank) controversial act ...

, President of the National City Bank (now

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

). Anne-Claire Legendre has been the consul general since August 2016.

Charles E. Mitchell House

The

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

-style townhouse, designed by architects A. Stewart Walker and Leon N. Gillette, was built between 1925 and 1926 on Fifth Avenue for Charles E. Mitchell. While residing at 934 Fifth Avenue, from 1925 to 1933, Mitchell served as informal advisor to American Presidents

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

and

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

. But the prestige of this address owed in great part to his wife, Elizabeth Mitchell, who hosted numerous musical evenings at the house. Musicians such as

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

, Fritz Kreisler, Rudolph Ganz, Ignay Padrewski, or José Iturbi regularly gave recitals in the “Pink Room” at 934 Fifth Avenue. In the early 1930s, following the stock exchange crash and investigations on his financial activities, Charles E. Mitchell lost most of his fortune and had to give up his residence. Number 934 is the only survivor of the seven townhouses that formerly lined this block. Within 50 years, the first houses built in the 1880s were replaced by equally luxurious large apartment buildings. The Charles E. Mitchell House was preserved thanks to the decision of the French government, which acquired it in 1942 and made it the official consulate general building.

History of the consulate

Before the consulate

As historic partners, France and the United States have maintained ties of friendship and cooperation since the first days of the American nation. The first French consular representation was established in Philadelphia in 1778. As soon as 1783, a French consulate was founded in New York, the first consulate to be established in this city. Saint John de Crèvecoeur became the first consul. However, very little information is available on the buildings that housed the consulate over the 18th centuries. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the French consulate general in New York City was located at 8 Bridge Street, Manhattan. From 1933 to 1942, the consulate general of France was located at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

, at 640 Fifth Avenue. As prestigious as this address was, it was decided, in 1941, to acquire another building that could house the offices and residence of the consul. In 1942, 934 Fifth Avenue became French property. But it wasn’t until 1943, after Franco-American relationships were reestablished (following an interruption under the

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

regime), that consular affairs resumed with the French resistance representatives. In keeping with the spirit of its founders, Charles E. Mitchell and his wife, who conceived the 934 as a place for culture, with an emphasis on literature and music, the consulate has perpetuated this tradition and welcomes, every year, numerous receptions involving the French community. The consulate hosts up to 150 events every year, including the monthly Conferences@934, which bring together French and American speakers.

List of the consuls general of France in New York City

The successive consuls have been:

The current consul general: Anne-Claire Legendre

Anne-Claire Legendre took up the position of consul general of France in New York on August 29, 2016. She is the first woman to hold this position. As consul general, Legendre is in charge of promoting the influence and appeal of France across the tri-state area of New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, as well as Bermuda. She serves a community of 80,000 French citizens, whose vitality actively contributes to the visibility of France in the United States. A native of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, Legendre is 37 years old. She graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, and holds degrees from Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (in Arabic) and the University of Sorbonne-Nouvelle in Paris (in modern languages and literature). Legendre previously served at the French embassy in Yemen in 2005-2006, before joining the Direction of the French Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she contributed to develop consular cooperation between member states from the European Union. From 2008 to 2010, she was in charge of bilateral relations with Algeria as part of the Direction of North Africa and the Middle East. She was then appointed to the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations, where she served under the current French Ambassador to the United States,

Gérard Araud Gérard Araud (born 20 February 1953) is a retired French diplomat who served as Ambassador of France to the United States from 2014 to 2019. He previously served as Director General for Political and Security Affairs of the Ministry of Foreig ...

, until 2013. As the Arab Spring upheavals placed the Middle East at the center of attention, she supervised negotiations on Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and Iraq, at the Security Council of the United Nations. In 2013, she was called to the cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development,

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

, where she served as Advisor on North Africa and the Middle East.

Honorary consulates

The consulate general of France in New York City supervises four honorary consuls, located respectively in the following cities: *Hamilton (Bermuda) *Hartford (Connecticut) *Princeton (New Jersey) *Buffalo (New York)

References

In the Journal officiel de la République française (JORF), on Gallica or Légifrance :
↑ Décret du ?? février 1907 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 57 du 27 février 1907, p. 1610.">rchive">↑ Décret du ?? février 1907 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 57 du 27 février 1907, p. 1610.
↑ Décret du 4 novembre 1913 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 306 du 11 novembre 1913, p. 9870.]
↑ Décret du 4 janvier 1916 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 78 du 19 mars 1916, p. 2143.]
↑ Décret du 19 mars 1923 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 90 du 1er avril 1923, p. 3301.">rchive">↑ Décret du 19 mars 1923 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 90 du 1er avril 1923, p. 3301.
↑ Décret du 23 septembre 1950 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 227 du 24 septembre 1950, p. 10008.]
↑ Décret du 20 mai 1957 rchive
/nowiki>, JORF no 120 du 24 mai 1957, p. 5205.
↑ Décret du 24 novembre 1958 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 276 du 26 novembre 1958, p. 10592.">rchive">↑ Décret du 24 novembre 1958 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 276 du 26 novembre 1958, p. 10592.
↑ Décret du 2 avril 1963 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 81 du 4 avril 1963, p. 3204.]
↑ Décret du 10 décembre 1968 rchive
/nowiki>, JORF no 293 du 13 décembre 1968, p. 11676.
↑ Décret du 14 octobre 1969 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 242 du 15 octobre 1969, p. 10208.">rchive">↑ Décret du 14 octobre 1969 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 242 du 15 octobre 1969, p. 10208.
↑ Décret du 15 juillet 1993 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 166 du 21 juillet 1993, p. 10274, NOR MAEA9320299D.]
↑ Décret du 3 janvier 1996 rchive
/nowiki>, JORF no 3 du 4 janvier 1996, p. 139, NOR MAEA9520568D.
↑ Décret du 16 janvier 1998 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 17 du 21 janvier 1998, p. 983, NOR MAEA9820003D.">rchive">↑ Décret du 16 janvier 1998 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 17 du 21 janvier 1998, p. 983, NOR MAEA9820003D.
↑ Décret du 21 juin 2004 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 144 du 23 juin 2004, p. 11403, texte no 51, NOR MAEA0420217D.]
↑ Décret du 19 mai 2008 rchive
/nowiki>, JORF no 117 du 21 mai 2008, texte no 41, NOR MAEA0810039D.
↑ Décret du 15 mai 2009 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 114 du 17 mai 2009, texte no 29, NOR MAEA0909505D.">rchive">↑ Décret du 15 mai 2009 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 114 du 17 mai 2009, texte no 29, NOR MAEA0909505D.
↑ Décret du 22 août 2012 [archive
/nowiki>, JORF no 196 du 24 août 2012, texte no 30, NOR MAEA1231543D.]
↑ Décret du 10 février 2016 rchive
/nowiki>, JORF no0035 du 11 février 2016, texte no 58, NOR: MAEA1603336D.

Other references

* * *

External links

* {{coord, 40.7739, N, 73.9656, W, source:wikidata, display=title Diplomatic missions of France

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

France–United States relations