[History ]

The Association nationale pour la propagation de la langue française dans les colonies et à l’étranger is created in 1883 under the aegis of Pierre Foncin and ambassador Paul Cambon.

On March 10th, 1884 the Paris Alliance’s board of directors is established. Some of the illustrious names on the board included : Ferdinand de Lesseps (diplomat), Louis Pasteur (chemist and biologist), Ernest Renan (writer), Jules Verne (writer), Armand Colin (publisher), among others.

Barcelona is the first European city to welcome the Alliance. The Alliance also set up shop in Senegal and in Mauritius that same year.

Thanks to the initiative of a group of friends, a chapter of the Alliance Française opens in Mexico and to this day the Alliance is still highly regarded in Latin America.

The Alliance becomes accredited by the French state in 1886. It broadens its horizons to Asia with its first chapter in India. In 1890, Berthe Mouchette, an art professor, created the first Australian Alliance in Melbourne. In 1901, the Paris Alliance teaches 516 students. McGill University in Montréal opens a chapter in 1902 and a Federation of Alliances Françaises started in the USA. 32,000 students register for courses in Paris in 1979.

[Halifax ]

The Halifax chapter of AF has been founded in 1906.

[References ]

• A presentation of AF by Xavier Garnier
• The Story of French by JB Nadeau-J.Barlow