Press release – 17 June 2020
The Free France and the Institut français in London – 1940 – 1945 Commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Appeal of 18 June
On Thursday 18 June 2020 France and the UK will commemorate a major event in their shared history: The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall will formally receive President Macron at Clarence House to celebrate the 80th anniversary of General de Gaulle’s Appeal in 1940 to his countrymen via a BBC broadcast. President Macron will also award London the Legion d'honneur in recognition of its help during WWII. To mark this anniversary, the Institut français du Royaume-Uni has dived into its own unique archive collections dedicated to that period. A virtual exhibition is available on the Institute’s website highlighting some archive treasures emblematic of the key days of the Resistance movement in London during WWII. “for a brief moment, the Institut français in London was at the centre of the world’s historical stage, owing to its involvement in the early days of Charles de Gaulle’ Free French Movement” according to historian Charlotte Faucher. Freshly inaugurated in 1939, the new premises of the Institut français (established in London since 1910) became “the first bastion of the Résistance”, in the words of Free French André Weil- Curiel. In June 1940 its director Denis Saurat immediately rallied Charles de Gaulle, whom he met for the first time on 19 June. During the first months of the war he used his networks to introduce de Gaulle to British francophile elites, French people based in the UK and media, and the Institut français became a platform to promote the Free France, over the course of war. It welcomed into its midst many Resistants, including René Cassin, future co-author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Institut français also sheltered the office of the monthly review, Revue de la France Libre, created in September 1940 by journalist André Labarthe and philosopher Raymond Aron, as well as some of the Free France’s services (mailing services, Free French Air Forces) when de Gaulle’s General Quarter at Carlton’s Gardens became too small. In addition to the exhibition, the Institut français looks back at this landmark period, through exclusive interviews and podcasts available on its website. www.institut-francais.org.uk/18june20 www.institut-francais.org.uk/ff-exhibition
Press contact: Natacha Antolini – 07 971 02 6881 – [email protected] Institut français – 17 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2DT – www.institut-francais.org.uk