French Consulate General, San Francisco
Encyclopedia
The Consulate General of France in San Francisco is a consular representation of the French Republic in the United States
. Its juridiction covers Northern California
, North of Nevada
, and the following states: Alaska
, Hawaii
, Idaho
, Montana
, Oregon
, Utah
, Washington, Wyoming
, and the Pacific Islands under American juridiction (Guam
and American Samoa
). The Consulate is currently located in the French quarter of San Francisco, on 540 Bush Street.
Under the authority of the Minister of European and Foreign Affairs, the Consulate General of France is responsible for the protection and administrative affairs of French nationals settled or traveling within the American Northwest.
The Consulate provides many services to the French community and those who desire to voyage to France
.
allows a foreigner and non-European Union
member, to enter and travel temporarily within French territory. The visa services are open:
, possess a cultural service department that satisfies the following missions:
with a major in classic Literature. After many positions in the heart of ministerial cabinets (including the cabinet of the President of the Republic in 2005), P-F Mourier was appointed to the Consulate General of San Francisco in 2007. Member of the Council of the State, he is also an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In August 2010, he was replaced by Romain Serman.
Current honorary Consuls:
On September 15, 1789, Jean-François de La Pérouse drops anchor in Monterey Bay and then, marking the first official French presence in California. The explorer collected precious geographic and scientific goods from the region, boasting its " enormous resources " and strategic position. The French naturalist and botanist, Eugène Duflos de Mofras, was sent to the Pacific coast during the 1840s and published his book in which he depicts a vast region with a population of merely 4,000 people.
The American West coast particularly interested the king, Louis-Philippe I, who had hoped to recbuild the great French empire before 1763. The summon of Louis Gasquet as Consul General of Monterey in November 1843, illustrates a type of political offensive by the government of the time. This unexpected presence worried American and Mexican authorities who struggled for the monopoly of the region. France was the first country to have official representation in California and Gasquet, aware of the predominant position of France, pushed the government to send naval forces as soon as possible. Refusing to recognize the sovereignty of Sloate and Stockton
, established during the American independence from England, Gasquet was imprisoned for 51 days (in reality, a sentinel was placed in front of his home, preventing him from completing his consular mission).
After an exchange of diplomatic letters, Louis Gasquet was finally released and replaced by Jacob Moerenhout in October 1846. Preserving the interests of his citizens and observing the turbulent behaviors of his neighbors, Moernhout created a region favorable to French immigrants. He settled in the Consulate of Monterey, situated by the sea : " a spacious house with a beautiful rose garden and orchards".
The position of Consul General of France in San Francisco was significant because it introduced the most important diplomatic representation in all of the Western United States. According to Jehanne Biétry-Sallinger, California
consisted of 352,000 inhabitants, of which 28,000 were French, in other words almost 8% of the total population. The principal mission of the consulate back then was to bring emergency assistance to new immigrants. When they arrived, their first step in this region far away and unknown, was to go to the consulate in order to receive information and money to settle and work in the mines. San Francisco was an unsafe city and brawls often broke out between French and foreign miners. The Consul had to flee quickly to the backcountry to escape being hung by his fellow citizens, as was the case in Placerville in 1853. Moreover, the Consul organized numerous public demonstrations in honor of events that affected France, such as the storming of Sebastopol in 1855.
This troubled period experienced the development of a French community united and dynamic, growing each day as a result of boats shipping migrants bound for the "streets to gold". Most stayed and settled permanently: the erection of the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in 1856 is the most striking example. Gradually, the community organized and founded restaurants, laundry, and theaters near Bush and Mason Street: the French quarter was therefore rapidly developing.
The earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco ruined most French investments and the Consulate was completely destroyed. On April 20, 1906 a telegram addressed to the Quai d'Orsay reads, "The manager of our Consulate in San Francisco telegrams me with hopes to inform the Department that the Consulate is destroyed; the personnel is safe, the archives have stayed under the rubble." Little France therefore lost all its influence in local life. After the earthquake, the consulate settled at the Union Trust Building. Following the Second World War, that witnessed the succession of two Consuls to the same post (one representing Vichy France
, the other liberated France), the Consulate installed at 690 Market Street. After the war, the residence of the two Consulates would be closed and official receptions would be held just in front, in the Palace Hotel. By 1958, the Consulate moved to a more spacious location in a three story building on the corner of Bush and Taylor.
During the 1970s, the Consulate acquired of a very beautiful residence on Jackson Street (bought in 1967), in Pacific Heights. Sadly, the narrowness of the building and its miserable location, forced the Minister of Foreign Affairs to find a new local. It was after the construction of a modern building on 540 Bush Street (next to the church Notre-Dame-des-Victoires) that the Consulate installed indefinitely in 1981.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Its juridiction covers Northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, North of Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, and the following states: Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Washington, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, and the Pacific Islands under American juridiction (Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
and American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
). The Consulate is currently located in the French quarter of San Francisco, on 540 Bush Street.
Under the authority of the Minister of European and Foreign Affairs, the Consulate General of France is responsible for the protection and administrative affairs of French nationals settled or traveling within the American Northwest.
The Consulate provides many services to the French community and those who desire to voyage to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Visas
A visaVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
allows a foreigner and non-European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
member, to enter and travel temporarily within French territory. The visa services are open:
- Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
- And on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm (closed for the afternoon).
The Chancellery
The chancellery (open from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm) provides all of administrative services to French citizens abroad. It is necessary to contact the chancellery as soon as your documents have been lost or stolen, regarding the renewal of passports or to obtain scholarships, grants, or other scholar financial aides. This service establishes itself as a direct interface between migrants and their nation of origin. The Chancellery regularly organizes consular missions within the juridiction to assist and support French citizens abroad.Cultural Services
The headquarters of Cultural Services of the French Embassy is based in New York. However, The Consulate General of France in San Francisco, like all 10 of the French Consulates in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, possess a cultural service department that satisfies the following missions:
- Encourage French cultural productions by helping professionals and artists in the United States,
- Promote the French educational system by managing the careers of French teachers, professors, and research workers in the United States, establishing guidance for students and parents, organizing national exams,
- Accompany students regarding to their university transfers,
- Inform students and professionals returning to France of procedures to follow, like producing the necessary contacts for their job,
- Support all possible efforts towards artistic events, cultural establishments, and higher education.
Scientific Services
This service, shared by consulates of San Francisco and Los Angeles, is in charge of maintaining a watchful eye on sciences and technology, by developing an international scientific cooperation and contributing to the promotion of French science and technologies in the United States.Press and Communication Services
This represents the direction of Communication and of “Porte-parolat”(DCP) of the Minister of European and Foreign Affairs. Its mission include:- To inform the public and the press about France, its institutions and its foreign policy and to respond to demands and enquiries,
- To inform the Minister of Foreign Affairs and through it, French authorities, about the primary political, economic and social events occurring within the juridiction,
- To organize information for the French and foreign public through the web site of the Consulate General,
- To establish and develop privileged contacts with the press within the circumscription, in order to present and explain France’s position in regards to foreign policy.(Attention: the Press service is not the “spokesman” of France)
- To monitor the image projected of France in the local media and to correct, if needed, informational errors by using the right of reply.
The Consul General
Born in 1966, Pierre-François Mourier is an alumnus of Ecole Normale SupérieureÉcole Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
with a major in classic Literature. After many positions in the heart of ministerial cabinets (including the cabinet of the President of the Republic in 2005), P-F Mourier was appointed to the Consulate General of San Francisco in 2007. Member of the Council of the State, he is also an Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In August 2010, he was replaced by Romain Serman.
Honorary Consuls
As a whole of the consular juridiction (nearly 4 million km²), the honorary consuls relieves the actions of the Consulate within the states of the Northwest. Usually, they legalize certain administrative procedures and directly collaborating with the Consulate General. However, they can not provide passports, identification cards or create official registration (documents such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, or death certificates).Current honorary Consuls:
- AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
- Mrs. Nathalie Novik - CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
- Mrs. Jane Wheaton - GuamGuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
- Mrs. Joëlle Wainer - HawaiiHawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
- Mrs. Patricia Lee - IdahoIdahoIdaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
- Mrs. Gabrielle Applequist - MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
- Mrs. Chantal Davoine-Moser - NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
- Mrs. Aurélie Delaissez-Forstall - OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
- Mrs. Claudine Fischer - UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
- Mrs. Marie-Hélène Glon - Washington - Mr. Jack Cowan
- WyomingWyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
- Mrs. Séverine Murdoch
French Presence
The Consulate General collaborates regularly with numerous French associations and organizations abroad .Assistance for New Residents
The Press and Communications service provides a guide to help French citizens who wish to settle in the region of the Bay Area (“le Petit Débrouillard”).California, French territory?
The American West coast particularly interested the king, Louis-Philippe I, who had hoped to recbuild the great French empire before 1763. The summon of Louis Gasquet as Consul General of Monterey in November 1843, illustrates a type of political offensive by the government of the time. This unexpected presence worried American and Mexican authorities who struggled for the monopoly of the region. France was the first country to have official representation in California and Gasquet, aware of the predominant position of France, pushed the government to send naval forces as soon as possible. Refusing to recognize the sovereignty of Sloate and Stockton
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
, established during the American independence from England, Gasquet was imprisoned for 51 days (in reality, a sentinel was placed in front of his home, preventing him from completing his consular mission).
After an exchange of diplomatic letters, Louis Gasquet was finally released and replaced by Jacob Moerenhout in October 1846. Preserving the interests of his citizens and observing the turbulent behaviors of his neighbors, Moernhout created a region favorable to French immigrants. He settled in the Consulate of Monterey, situated by the sea : " a spacious house with a beautiful rose garden and orchards".
The French community of San Francisco
When San Francisco was still called Yerba Buena ("the good herb"), only three French nationals were recorded among 800 inhabitants. However, the quickly increasing population (23,000 inhabitants in 1852) enticed the government of President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte to establish the French Consulate in San Francisco, the new economic capital of the region. France already had a consular agent that exercised his duties until the arrival of the first Consul General, Mr. Patrice Dillion, on July 22, 1850. Unable to settle in a city still in construction, the Consul accepted the hospitality of a damp French ship on the bay. Sometime later, he decided to take residence on the corner of Jackson and Mason.The position of Consul General of France in San Francisco was significant because it introduced the most important diplomatic representation in all of the Western United States. According to Jehanne Biétry-Sallinger, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
consisted of 352,000 inhabitants, of which 28,000 were French, in other words almost 8% of the total population. The principal mission of the consulate back then was to bring emergency assistance to new immigrants. When they arrived, their first step in this region far away and unknown, was to go to the consulate in order to receive information and money to settle and work in the mines. San Francisco was an unsafe city and brawls often broke out between French and foreign miners. The Consul had to flee quickly to the backcountry to escape being hung by his fellow citizens, as was the case in Placerville in 1853. Moreover, the Consul organized numerous public demonstrations in honor of events that affected France, such as the storming of Sebastopol in 1855.
This troubled period experienced the development of a French community united and dynamic, growing each day as a result of boats shipping migrants bound for the "streets to gold". Most stayed and settled permanently: the erection of the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in 1856 is the most striking example. Gradually, the community organized and founded restaurants, laundry, and theaters near Bush and Mason Street: the French quarter was therefore rapidly developing.
The Consulate General of France in San Francisco
After 1892, the consular office moved to 604 Commercial Street, next to the port within the Financial District. Documents of the time disclosed an exact description of the Consulate of France : " the neighborhood is modest, its entry is abrupt, but it seems as though there are enough serious motifs which have unfortunately been often criticized by the French colony and French voyagers in passing, the Consulate will be preserved here where it is. Insufficient funds for rent were administered to the chief of staff who then had to pay the remaining sum from his own reserves(…) in addition, our Consul would have received the authorization to renew the antique furniture that remained. It is necessary to include that the great majority of foreign consulates should not have a better status. The budget does not always measure up to amount expected. "The earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco ruined most French investments and the Consulate was completely destroyed. On April 20, 1906 a telegram addressed to the Quai d'Orsay reads, "The manager of our Consulate in San Francisco telegrams me with hopes to inform the Department that the Consulate is destroyed; the personnel is safe, the archives have stayed under the rubble." Little France therefore lost all its influence in local life. After the earthquake, the consulate settled at the Union Trust Building. Following the Second World War, that witnessed the succession of two Consuls to the same post (one representing Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, the other liberated France), the Consulate installed at 690 Market Street. After the war, the residence of the two Consulates would be closed and official receptions would be held just in front, in the Palace Hotel. By 1958, the Consulate moved to a more spacious location in a three story building on the corner of Bush and Taylor.
During the 1970s, the Consulate acquired of a very beautiful residence on Jackson Street (bought in 1967), in Pacific Heights. Sadly, the narrowness of the building and its miserable location, forced the Minister of Foreign Affairs to find a new local. It was after the construction of a modern building on 540 Bush Street (next to the church Notre-Dame-des-Victoires) that the Consulate installed indefinitely in 1981.
Annexe
1843-1846 |
Louis GASQUET (in Monterey) |
1846-1850 |
Jacob.A MOEHRENHOUT (in Monterey) |
1850-19 December 1856 |
Patrice DILLON |
1857-19 April 1861 |
Frédéric-Abel GAUTIER |
1861-9 June 1863 |
Antoine FOREST |
1863-1er Jan.1864 |
Frédéric-Abel GAUTIER |
1864-18 Nov.1867 |
Charles de CAZOTTE |
1867-16 Nov.1868 |
J. BELCOUR |
1868-13 Feb.1869 |
Charles de CAZOTTE |
1869-25 June.1869 |
J. BELCOUR |
1869-26 Jul.1875 |
Édouard BREUIL |
1875-11 Dec.1875 |
J. BELCOUR |
1876-30 Oct.1877 |
Antoine FOREST |
1877-31 Oct.1880 |
Consul, Antoine FOREST |
1880-28 Oct.1884 |
Auguste VAUVERT de MEAN |
1884-1891 |
Edmond CARREY |
1891-1892 |
Gustave-Auguste DELONGRAYE |
1892-1898 |
Alexandre LAURENCE DE LALANDE |
1898 |
TRUY (never arrived) |
1898-1901 |
Adolphe DENIS de TROBRIAND |
1901-1903 |
Auguste-Henri DALLEMAGNE |
1903-1907 |
Etienne-Marie-Louis LANEL |
11 avril 1903 |
The Consulate became a Consulate General |
1907-1912 |
Henri-Antoine MEROU |
1912-1915 |
Raphaël MONNET |
1915-1924 |
Hippolyte-Charles-Julien NELTNER |
1924-1931 |
Maurice HEILMANN |
1931-1937 |
Yves MERIC de BELLEFON |
1937-1941 |
Roger GAUCHERON |
1941-1942 |
Claude BREART de BOISANGER |
November 1942 |
The Consulate General is closed. |
1943-1945 |
Charles-Simon de LESSART |
1945-1946 |
Jacques BAEYENS |
1946-1948 |
Raoul BERTRAND |
1949-1951 |
Jean VYAU de LAGARDE |
1952-1955 |
Louis de Guiringaud Louis de Guiringaud Louis de Guiringaud was a French politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Raymond Barre between 1976 and 1978... |
1956-1960 |
Robert LUC |
1961-1966 |
Pierre BASDEVANT |
1967-1971 |
Claude BATAULT |
1972-1976 |
Emmanuel de CASTEJA |
1977-1978 |
Pierre MATHIVET de la VILLE de MIRMONT |
1979-1981 |
Pierre Brochand Pierre Brochand Pierre Brochand is a former director of the French Directorate-General for External Security . He was previously a diplomat... |
1982-1985 |
Gérard ERRERA |
1986-1990 |
Pierre VIAUX |
1991-1994 |
Yves ROE d'ALBERT |
1995-1996 |
Alain LE GOURRIEREC |
1997-1999 |
André PARANT |
2000-2002 |
Gérard Coste Gerard Coste Gérard Coste , is a painter and diplomat, born in Marseille. A graduate of the [SciencesPo Paris ], HEC Paris and the École nationale d'administration , he began his diplomatic career in Laos in 1964, later serving in Japan... |
2003-2007 |
Frédéric DESAGNEAUX |
2007-2010 |
Pierre-François MOURIER |
2010-present |
Romain SERMAN |