2022-12-01 08:00:00
Thierry Chaunu was born in Paris in 1956. A graduate of Sciences Po Paris (Public Service) and Langues O (Chinese diploma), he settled following his military service in the Navy in the United States in 1980 and has since led a career in the luxury industry: Vice-President of Cartier USA, President of Christofle Goldsmiths in North America, President of Chopard USA, World CEO of Haute-Joaillerie Leviev, and founder in 2010 of his own distribution company , BeauGeste Luxury Brands. He has been active all these years in the associative world, in particular president of the Alliance Française de Miami (1981-1985), president of the Alumni Sciences Po’ USA (1997-2004), Foreign Trade Advisor. He is a Corvette Captain (honorary) and father of two children, Philippe and Pierre, both born in the United States and living in Miami.
In 2020, he was elected president of the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, a non-profit association dedicated to the preservation of the graves of French soldiers buried in the United States, and to the promotion of their memory and the historical links between the France and the United States.
1. What is the story of the Little Prince in the United States?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote The little Prince in 1942 during his exile in New York. Mainly at 240 Central Park South, and also at Bevin House, a summer house located in Northport, a small village on Long Island. The little Prince was first published in the United States in 1943, and enjoyed immediate success. It was not until 1946 that it was published in France. The little Prince is the most translated book in the world following the Bible, in more than 400 languages and dialects, and has sold more than 200 million copies!
2. The Delegation of French Souvenir in the United States proposes the creation of a sculpture which will remind New York of the story of the Little Prince. Can you tell us regarding this project?
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of the “Dead for France” who left from New York during the two world wars, whose names are engraved in the Memorial of French War Veterans of New York, at Notre-Dame Church located at 405 West 114th Street.
Airman “Mort pour la France” on a reconnaissance mission at the controls of a Lightning P-38 July 31, 1944, “Saint-Ex” was also a member of the Sons of the American Revolutionhis ancestor having fought for the Independence of the United States.
The idea of the sculpture of the Little Prince was proposed in 1994 by Colonel Roger Cestac, president of our association. Unfortunately, for various and varied reasons, the project might not succeed. In 2000, Le Souvenir Français placed a plaque at 3 East 52nd Street in honor of the great aviation pioneer and writer, a place where “Saint-Ex” frequently met his artist friend Bernard Lamotte.
As soon as I was elected in November 2020, I proposed to our Executive Committee to make this sculpture a priority, and I am very happy that this project can – finally! – see the day.
We retained the French sculptor Jean-Marc de Pas, (author of the bust of “Saint-Ex” at the Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget), and obtained the active support of the rights holders of the work , represented by Olivier d’Agay (the author’s great-nephew) and the Saint-Exupéry Foundation for Youth directed by Nicolas Delsalle-Mun and whose Vice-President is Lionel de Saint-Exupéry.
Last but not least, the French Ambassador to Washington Mr. Philippe Etienne and the Cultural Attaché to the French Embassy, Mr. Gaëtan Bruel, have agreed to install the sculpture at the entrance of the Villa Albertine, the French bookshop located in the magnificent Cultural Services residence, on 5th Avenue between 78th and 79th streets, just across from Central Park. The statue will be installed on the low wall that borders the garden, along the sidewalk.
The godmother of the sculpture is none other than the famous American writer Stacy Schiff, who won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, and best-selling author of numerous biographies, including that of Saint-Exupéry.
The inauguration is scheduled for September 2023, during the next session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, which particularly suits the Little Prince, universal symbol of Peace and Youth.
The artist in his studio in Normandy and version of The Little Prince selected by our Executive Committee
3. Beyond this wonderful project, can you tell us regarding the delegation of Souvenir Français in the United States?
The Delegation of French Souvenir in the United States resides within the American Society of Le Souvenir Français, which is a “non-profit” type association recognized by the federal tax administration, and therefore entitled to receive donations. US taxpayers and operating under US laws.
We have in the USA more than 2,000 French soldiers who fought for France who are buried everywhere in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and who cover several periods, the war of Independence of course, but also the two world wars (sailors buried in 1918 at the Cypress Hills National Military Cemetery in New York, French officers at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, Air Force student pilots in 1943-1945 which crashed in Alabama, Michigan, etc…) not to mention the oldest, a sailor of Louis XIV (from Cavelier de la Salle’s expedition) buried in the Texas National Cemetery in Austin! We participate in ceremonies on all Patriotic Days, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, etc.
Beyond this memorial activity of military origin, we are concerned with cultivating the historical ties of alliance and friendship between our two countries since 1778, a rather unique example in the history of nations, the two countries do not having never been to war and always remaining allies.
This is how we carry out many other activities: thus, the inauguration on June 14, 2022 of a “marker” placed next to the monument of Major Pierre the Child in Arlington, inaugurated in the presence of the deputy ambassador of France in Washington and the presidents of all the American patriotic associations, or even on October 18, 2022 in Yorktown the inauguration of another “marker” honoring the crucial role, too little known, of Admiral de Grasse and the French Navy in the Independence of the United States, or the projected repair of the La Pérouse stele erected on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Last year we unveiled two headstones in the historic Newport Cemetery, Rhode Island, placed next to the grave of Admiral de Ternay, and dedicated to two officers of l’Hermione who had been buried in 1781. Next year we will inaugurate a memorial dedicated to 4 soldiers of the Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment buried near the future museum of Rochambeau’s HQ, Odell House, 30 km from New York.
We have forged close ties with leading memorial associations, such as the Society of Honor Guard / Tomb of Unknown Soldier, which brings together the famous “Tomb Guards” of Arlington National Military Cemetery, who stand guard 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, in all weathers, in front of the Unknown Soldiers of the two world wars. They are the elite of the American Army and very Francophile, because their Unknown Soldier transferred in 1920 died in France.
Also with the American Friends of Lafayette, with whom we are preparing the Bicentenary of the triumphal voyage of Lafayette in 1824, who was “the Nation’s Host” for 13 months and who traveled to 24 States. This will be an opportunity to expose a number of historical facts, too often overlooked today.
Among these, who knows that the portrait of La Fayette is exposed vis-à-vis that of Washington, on each side of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in Congress?
All of these activities are reported in our Monthly Bulletin, published in both languages, listed below. Our goal is to make the younger American generations better aware of the crucial role of France in the conquest of their freedom and to pass on this “torch of memory” also to young French people. Personally, I have often been pained to see that our compatriots in France have very little awareness of what their ancestors accomplished in America, with some of the most glorious feats of arms in our entire history.
Thus, I have just presented to the National Arts Club of New York a work which lists some 950 sites of “Memories of France” spread over the 50 current States of the United States. The royalties from the sale of this book in electronic version will be donated to the association. So many cities, regions, states have been discovered by French soldiers, explorers, missionaries, adventurers… who all contributed to building the United States, and of whom we can be proud.
They should be remembered and honored.
Thierry Chaunu and Admiral Frédéric de Rupilly in Yorktown on October 18, 2022
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