Consulate General of France in New York

Charles E. Mitchell House, today French Consulate of New York

The Consulate General of France is the consular representation of the French Republic in the state of New York, in the United States of America. The Consulate General is housed in the Charles E. Mitchell House, at 934 Fifth Avenue, between 74th and 75th streets.

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 (New York, Connecticut and New Jersey), as well as the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda.

The townhouse is one of Fifth avenue’s last architectural legacies from the 19th housing the Consulate General of France, 934 Fifth Avenue was the residence of Charles E. Mitchell, President of the National City Bank (now Citibank). Mr. Bertrand Lortholary has been the Consul General since 2012.

History of the Consulate

The Charles E. Mitchell House

The Italian Renaissance-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 and Herbert Hoover. But the prestige of this address owed in great part to his wife, Elizabeth Mitchell, who hosted numerous musical evenings at the house. Indeed, musicians such as George Gerswhin, 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 fifty 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.

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.

From 1933 to 1942, the Consulate General of France was located at Rockefeller Center, 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 regime), that consular affairs resumed with the French resistance representatives.

In keeping with the spirit of its founders, Mr. 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 Consul Generals of France in New York

The successive consuls have been:

Consul General	Decree of nomination
J. Hector St John de Crèvecoeur	1783
Antoine-René-Charles-Mathurin de La Forest (interim)	1785
J. Hector St John de Crèvecoeur	1787
...
Jean-Marie Sotin de La Coindière	1798
...
Alcide Ebray
Étienne Lanel	February, 1907
Bosseront d'Anglade	November 4, 1913
Gaston Liébert	January 4, 1916
Barret	March 19, 1923
...
Roger Seydoux	September 23, 1950
Jean Vyau de Lagarde	1952
Jacques Baeyens	May 20, 1957
Raymond Laporte	November 24, 1958
Michel Legendre	April 2, 1963
Jean Béliard	December 10, 1968
Henri Claudel	October 14, 1969
Gérard Gaussen	1972
Gérard Le Saige de la Villesbrunne	1978
Bertrand de la Taillade	1981
André Gadaud	1984
Benoît d'Aboville	1989
André Baeyens	July 15, 1993
Patrick Gautrat	January 3, 1996
Richard Duqué	January 16, 1998
François Delattre	June 21, 2004
Guy Yelda	May 19, 2008
Philippe Lalliot	May 15, 2009
Bertrand Lortholary	August 22, 2012

The current Consul General: Bertrand Lortholary

Mr. Bertrand Lortholary took office as Consul General of France in New York on September 1, 2012. After graduating from the Institute of Political Studies (“Sciences Po”) in Paris, the University of Paris-Dauphine, the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (in Chinese), and later the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (Marc Bloch class of 1997), Bertrand Lortholary joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He first worked at the Direction of Africa and the Indian Ocean at the ministry, where he monitored the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He later joined the team of the Director General of Political Affairs, from 1998 to 2001.

His career first took him to Washington, D.C., as an exchange diplomat for the Department of State, and later at the French Embassy, where he was in charge of Asian and African affairs from 2002 to 2005. After D.C., he served in Beijing from 2005 to 2008, as political advisor.

From 2008 to 2008, he was political advisor to the French President for Asia and Oceania.

Honorary Consulates

The Consulate General of France supervises four honorary consuls located respectively in the following towns:

• Hamilton (Bermuda)

• Hartford (Connecticut)

• Princeton (New Jersey)

• Buffalo (New York)

References

In the Journal officiel de la République française (JORF), on Gallica or Légifrance :

Other references

↑ « Team, contact information and opening hours » [archive], sur consulfrance-newyork.org (consulté le 26 avril 2011).
↑ (en) Abraham Phineas Nasatir et Gary Elwyn Monell, French Consuls in the United States: A Calendar of Their Correspondence in the Archives Nationales, Washington, Bibliothèque du Congrès, 1967, in-8°, XII-606 p.

Bibliography

• Anthony W. Robins et Cécile Girardeau (trad. Lynda Stringer, photogr. Gary Landsman), Consulat général de France à New York, Paris, Éditions internationales du patrimoine, coll. « Résidences de France », 2013, 175 p. (ISBN 979-10-90756-07-6) • (en) Michael C. Kathrens, Great Houses of New York: 1880-1930, Acanthus Press, coll. « Urban Domestic Architecture Series », 2005 (ISBN 0-926494-34-1), p. 371–372

External links

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Official website

Coordinates: 40°46′26″N 73°57′56″W / 40.7739°N 73.9656°W / 40.7739; -73.9656