Prizes will be awarded to the 12 best entries

A short History,

The Institut Français, originally known as the Université des Lettres françaises, opened in 1910, the initiative of a young French woman, Marie d'Orliac, eager to introduce the London public to well-known writers, thinkers and artists from France.

At the end of the 1920s, the French government purchased Nos 15-17 Queensberry Place, its current address. In  1924, Denis Saurat was made Director of the Institut and would keep his position until the end of the Second World War.

He  was one of the first to answer Général de Gaulle's famous radio appeal to French people on 18th June 1940 and the Institut  played a major role during these troubled times. Today, just as it has done over the last 100 years, the IFRU continues to pursue its mission of promoting French language and culture, at the same time encouraging French-British exchanges.

On the occasion of its centenary, the Institut Français is holding a competition of article writing, open to  British and French University  students  on the subject : “The French presence in London from the Entente Cordiale to the end of the Second World War”

The best articles will be awarded
and published on the Institut français website
E-mail : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel : 020 7073 1350

Want to enter the competition?