Alexandria, March 8
French Consul to Alexandria Nabil Hajlaoui announced Tuesday that the consulat would hold a series of activities to mark the international Francophone Day.
In a press conference held at the French Consulate in Alexandria & Mrs Amna Hajlaoui and headed by H.E the Consul General, H.E Mr. Aly Maher, former Ambassador of Egypt to France & currently the formal spokesperson of the Bibliothequa Alexandrina and Prof. Dr. Albert Lourde, Dean of Senghor University in Alexandria; Mr. Hajlaoui said that the event aims to highlight richness of French language and culture as well as French culture presence and spread in Alexandrian educational and intellectual domains.
Mr. Aly Maher said that the intellectual and cultural pathway is the best way to fight terrorism which is a common enemy for Egypt & France and that Alexandria has always been a symbol as a cosmopolitan multi-cultural city. The Egyptian diplomat added that he hopes that the anticipated visit of the French President to Egypt next month will include a visit to Alexandria.
H.E. Mr. Aly Maher
Prof. Albert Lourde
H.E Mr. Nabil Hajlaoui & Mme Amna Hajlaoui
Mme Rania Shaarawy- Director of the francophnic library at the Bibiotheque of Alexandria
Mr. Sébastien Lafragette, Director of the French Institute of Alexandria
Mme Marwa El Sahn- Director of the center of the francophonic activities- Bibliotheque of Alexandria
Prof. Lourde; Dean of Senghor University in Alexandria declared an interesting statement that Alexandria is still a center of attraction for the post graduate students and that they consider studying in Alexandria an honor because of the long history of the city where reality and myth mix.
Among the activities would be a number of music and singing concerts, competitions, fashion and movies making and screening, said Mr. Sebastien Lafragette, director of the French Institute in Alexandria.
He added that the event would be organized during the whole month of Mach in cooperation with the Bibliothèque of Alexandria, the French Institute, the Consulat and the French schools in Alexandria.
The International Francophone Day is observed within the International Organization of La Francophonie’s 77 member states every March 20 to celebrate the French language and Francophone culture. There are over 274 million French speakers on earth, 3 million of them are Egyptians.
Worth mentioning is that this event began in 1998 as a way for the then 49 members of La francophonie to celebrate their common bond, the French language, as well as their diversity.
What is francophonie?
The term was coined by French essayist Onésime Reclus in about 1880 to describe the geographic areas in which French was spoken and today francophonie refers to the ensemble of people around the world who speak French. A Francophone is a person who speaks French and francophone is an adjective (e.g., francophone country).
