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The procession of diplomats flocking to Atlanta continued last month with the Aug. 25 arrival of new French Consul General Anne-Laure Desjonquères.
The career diplomat and 42-year-old mother of three comes to the city just in time for the annual France-Atlanta series of cultural, business and scientific events, held in partnership with Georgia Tech again for the 13th year.
Ms. Desjonquères is the first woman to represent France in the Georgia capital since the consulate opened in 1989. She replaces Vincent Hommeril, who said “au revoir” to Atlanta with a poignant letter read in French during a Bastille Day celebration at Saint Germain French Bakery and Cafe on July 14.
In a speech peppered with poetry, Mr. Hommeril reflected on a full three years straddling a pandemic in Atlanta, working in the office of course but also deepening his knowledge about the Southeast U.S. by traveling to farms, factories and mountain cabins throughout the consulate’s five-state jurisdiction. His experiences rounded out expectations born of early encounters with Southern literature.
“I had dreamed of the South during my youth through William Faulkner and Erskine Caldwell, or thorough the terrifying film ‘Mississippi Burning.’ Obviously, everything has changed — fortunately, but certain factors remain,” he said, according to a translation of the speech. He noted his surprise at the fact that Atlanta had distinct seasons and was not just constant barrage of heat.
As if to prove his point, Ms. Desjonquères’s arrival has coincided with what Atlantans consider a light chill in the air, breaking the heat and humidity of summer just in time for (American) football season.
Ms. Desjonquères comes off a four-year stint heading up the division of European Union law and international economic law at France’s Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs. Before that, she served in consecutive overseas postings, first for three years as a political adviser on domestic and African policy issues in the French embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, from 2012-15. After that, she oversaw the press and communication office in New Delhi, serving at France’s Indian embassy from 2015-17.
Prior to her first international postings, she was a desk officer in charge of nuclear disarmament issues for two years, acting before that as a legal consultant in EU law for three years starting in 2006, the year she joined the diplomatic service.
A former student of the French National School of Administration (École nationale d’administration) and of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Ulm), she graduated from Sciences Po in Paris and from the University of Paris-IV Sorbonne with a master’s degree in the history of international relations.
Read her full bio in English here. Learn more about the consulate at https://atlanta.consulfrance.org.
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