Francis Jean Roudière
1946 -

Diplomat, Botschafter in
Salvador und Belize

Francis Roudière,
San Salvador
(2008)

Francis Roudière

Francis Roudière (* 24.07.1946 in Pennautier) wuchs in Carcassonne auf und besuchte dort das Lycée Paul Sabatier. Studium der Geschichte und Geographie in Toulouse, danach bis 1974 Lehrer in Auch und Toulouse (Maîtrise de géographie). Nach einem Aufenthalt in Vietnam (dort wurde die Tochter Delphine geboren) Teilnahme an Concours für den auswärtigen Dienst. Francis Roudière begann seine diplomatische Karriere 1974 als Botschaftssekretär in Cuba (dort Geburt des Sohnes Guillaume), weiter im Pariser Außenministerium, anschließend in Indien und Peru. Consul Général adjoint in Barcelona und Consul Général in Bilbao. Von März 2004 bis Oktober 2008 französischer Botschafter in Salvador und Belize.

Who's who in France

Who's who in France = Qui est qui en France
Dictionnaire biographique de personnalités françaises
vivant en France,
dans les territoires d'Outre-Mer ou à l'étranger
et de personnalités étrangères
résidant en France.
36^e édition 2004/05.
Levallois-Perret : Édition Jacques Lafitte, 2004,
S. 1753
39^e édition 2008.
Levallois-Perret : Édition Jacques Lafitte, 2007,
S. 1942

Midi Libre

Artikel über Francis Roudière
 (Midi Libre, Ausgabe Carcassonne,
vom 21. April 2004)

 Vida local de Poveda

La « Vida local » de Poveda vue par Francis Roudière
(Midi Libre, Ausgabe Carcassonne, vom 7. Februar 2010, S. 4)

French Embassy
in El Salvador

The French Embassy, with a presence in El Salvador for more than 130 years, has forged a close relationship and a spirit of cooperation with the Salvadoran community.

    The embassy’s functions, interrupted only once by the withdrawal of its employees for four years (1980-84) during the armed conflict, represents the French government, its citizens and French businesses and collaborates with a wide range of Salvadoran institutions. Also serving as France’s representative to Belize, the French ambassador visits this Caribbean country four times a year.

    In office for more than a year, Ambassador Francis Roudière has already established a strong relationship between his country and El Salvador. When he arrived, he spent four months traveling around the country to learn more about each area and their needs. But now the busy job leaves him fewer hours to travel, although he is eager to get to know more of the country.

    The daily tasks for the ambassador are multiple. He represents his country in official ceremonies and supervises the management of the embassy and its employees. Ambassador Roudière is also in charge of signing birth, marriage and death certificates, and other official tasks related to the local French community. With 600 French citizens to look after it is much like managing a small village. But Roudière is used to multi-tasking; he has been an ambassador in Cuba, India, Peru and Spain. When a specialist in Spanish-speaking countries was needed for the ambassador post in El Salvador, his name was on the top of the list. Roudière was thrilled to come to El Salvador, as he enjoys working in Latin American countries.

    He tells us that the first Frenchmen who settled in El Salvador were Jews fleeing from the German occupation of Alsace in the 1870s, and their descendants are still present today. As the French community multiplied, so grew the need for a French school, which opened in the 1970s. And with French presence, there is always an infusion of French culture, something that is close to the ambassador’s heart. He talks passionately about the French love for culture and is eager to preserve and promote Salvadoran culture, too.

    The ambassador is a native of the famous medieval village of Carcassonne, which was constructed in the 1300s. “When you grow up with historic buildings all around you, you learn to appreciate and be interested in your own culture. And culture is such an important aspect in life; it’s where we come from and who we are,” he explains. “This link of where we come from is something that the French always have cultivated, and this connection with our past and our identity is vital for a sustainable development in so many things.

    “El Salvador has to learn to come to terms with its past and learn more about the entire wonderful heritage this country still has, despite the devastation of the colonization. There is so much of their culture left, but people have to have the interest in learning and preserving these values,” he says.
    Among his passions is photography, which helps explain the French Embassy’s collaboration with the Alianza Francesa (an independent French cultural institution) in El Salvador’s first national photography competition, which is being launched this month.

    As a passionate amateur photographer himself, the ambassador chose to promote this form of art for many reasons. “To begin with, photography is a French invention, and throughout history France has been the home for the most famous photographers, both French and foreign. This is a recent art form and is accessible to so many people. Even if you can’t paint or draw, anybody can pick up a camera and develop skills though classes and practice in order to become a good photographer. And since this is still not a very known art form in El Salvador with no national competition yet, it seemed to be the right choice,” the ambassador explains.

Lena Johannessen in: Revue : Guatemala’s English-language magazine (April 9, 2008)

L’équipe de l’ambassade
(2006/07)

Exposición de fotografía
Mirando desde Afuera,
de Francis Roudière

 The photographer Francis Roudière shows us an outside, but also close-up and affectionate, view of his travels to La Libertad and Suchitoto, two small towns in El Salvador which he was able to visit because of his work as French Ambassador in this country.

    The pictures were taken with old cameras with black and white film; the developing and enlargement of the pictures was done by Roudière himself. Alianza Francesa de Managua. April 19, 2008.

Están vestidos de blanco y negro, sin embargo, poseen un colorido pleno. Sus entornos nos sugieren que en la paz han forjado sus vidas. La sencillez de sus gestos pluraliza la belleza de sus quehaceres cotidianos, en apariencia triviales. El silencio es quien los nombra, y en nuestro silencio reverente el que los acoge. Son personas llanas, en cuyos ojos amanece el día, con su lámpara a cuestas.

    Las ha descubierto Francis Roudière en sus giras por La Libertad y Suchitoto. Con dos cámaras al hombro, se ha desplazado con la intención de revelarnos aquellos seres que --de acuerdo a su sentir-- se pueden rescatar del tiempo y del espacio. Y así, él ha penetrado en el mundo de la interioridad, tarea de artistas que conocen los vaivenes del claroscuro vivencial.

    Francis Roudière es un fotógrafo aficionado. Diplomático de carrera, es embajador de Francia en El Salvador desde marzo de 2004. Apasionado por la fotografía desde sus años de colegio y universidad, ha participado en exposiciones colectivas y en la dirección de foto-clubes.

    Su cariño por El Salvador y su gente, le ha animado a retomar sus viejas pero siempre fieles cámaras (una Nikon FE de finales de los setenta y una Rolleiflex 6x6 de 1956), a usar películas blanco y negro famosas como la Kodak Tri X y la Ilford HP5+, a hacer él mismo los revelados y las ampliaciones en papel fotográfico, para elaborar esta visión personal del país. La exposición inicia el sábado 12 y concluye el viernes 25 de abril, en horario de 2 a 6 de la tarde, de lunes a sábado, en la Alianza Francesa de Managua. La entrada es gratuita.

Aus: El nuevo diario.com.ni (14 de Abril de 2008)

Ernennungsurkunden
(Ministère des affaires étrangères)