Sylvie-Agnès Bermann (born 19 October 1953) is a French former career diplomat who served as the ambassador of France to the United Kingdom,Biography at www.ambafrance-uk.org
ambassador of France to Russia, and as French ambassador to China in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

from 2011 until 2014. She previously served as director for United Nations, International Organizations, Human Rights and Francophony at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Early life and education

Bermann is a graduate o
Paris-Sorbonne University
where she studied history, the Paris Institute of Political Studies (" Sciences Po"), the French

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales ( en, National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations), abbreviated as INALCO, is a French university specializing in the teaching of languages and cultures from the world. ...

where she studied Chinese, and the

Beijing Language and Culture University } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Career

Bermann embarked on her diplomatic career in 1979. She served as vice-consul at the French Consulate General in Hong Kong from 1979 to 1980, and subsequently became third secretary, then second secretary, at the French embassy in China between 1980 and 1982. SylvieBermannJeSuisCharlie

Bermann was subsequently responsible for policy relating to China/Hong Kong/Taiwan at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development until 1986, when she became second counsellor at the French embassy in Moscow. In 1989, Bermann returned to Paris to take up the post of head of the Southeast Asia Department, where she remained until 1992. In 1992 Bermann was appointed second counsellor at the

Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations The Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations is the diplomatic mission of the French Republic to the United Nations in New York. As such, it reports to the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Location Since 1991, the offices of the ...

in New York. In 1996, she became head of the Common Foreign and Security Policy Department at the French Foreign Ministry, before becoming ambassador as permanent representative of France to the Western

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and to the European Union's

Political and Security Committee The Political and Security Committee (PSC; sometimes referred to by its French ''COPS'' acronym derived from ''Comité politique et de sécurité'') is a permanent body within the European Union dealing with Common Foreign and Security Policy issu ...

(PSC) in Brussels in 2002. Bermann headed the French Foreign Ministry's directorate for the UN and international organizations, human rights and Francophony, from December 2005 to February 2011. Bermann was appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to China on 23 February 2011, becoming the first woman to hold the post of French ambassador in a country which is a permanent member of the Security Council. She became French ambassador to the United Kingdom in August 2014.

Other activities

* Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence (IHEDN), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2020) *In 2021 Bermann published a book about Britain and Brexit - ''Goodbye Britannia'' based on stereotypes of French hatred toward Britain (Éditions Stock). She had previously written a book on China - ''La Chine en eaux profondes'' (Éditions Stock, 2017).

Honours

* Officier,

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(2012) *

Ordre_national_du_Merite_Commandeur_ribbon

Commander (2019) of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

, Officier in 2008.

References

External links