Monique Jeanne Desvaux Cossard (November 20, 1921 – April 4, 2023) was a French-American educator and textbook writer. She worked for the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

from 1951 to 1984, and was the author of several books on French language learning.

Early life and education

Monique Desvaux was born in

Boissy-Saint-Léger Boissy-Saint-Léger () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Population Transport Boissy-Saint-Léger is served by Boissy-Saint-Léger station on Pa ...

, France. She graduate from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

Career

Cossard taught French in Paris. She moved to the United States in 1951, to teach French to American foreign service personnel in Washington, D.C. From 1957 to 1959, she was assistant director at the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for members of the U.S. foreign service community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreign ...

in Nice, and from 1959 to 1962 directed the language program at the United States embassy in Paris. She became a Senior Instructor, and later head of the Romance Languages department, at the FSI Language Training Program in

Rosslyn, Virginia Rosslyn ( ) is a heavily urbanized unincorporated area in northeastern Arlington County, Virginia, United States. It is in Northern Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown and Foggy B ...

, in the early 1960s. She was head of the Early Morning Language Program there, serving full-time government workers."Early Morning Language Program: Eye Opener at FSI"
''Department of State News Letter'' (October 1968): 10-13. She received a

Meritorious Honor Award The Meritorious Honor Award is an award of the United States Department of State. Similar versions of the same award exist for the former U.S. Information Agency, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and USAID. It is presented to groups or indi ...

from the State Department in 1965, and she retired from the Foreign Service Institute in 1984.

Publications

Cossard wrote or co-wrote several textbooks for French language learning. * ''French basic course'' (1976, with Robert J. Salazar) * ''French: Basic Course Units 13-24 Revised'' (1977, with Robert J. Salazar) * ''Official Foreign Service Institute French Language Course'' (1994) * ''French Sentences Vol.1: English & French'' (with Robert J. Salazar and Nik Marcel) * ''French Sentences Vol.2: English & French'' (with Robert J. Salazar and Nik Marcel) * ''Mastering French: Hear It, Speak It, Write It, Read It'' (1985, with Robert J. Salazar)

Personal life

Monique Desvaux married Pierre Cossard in 1947. They had a son, Pierre-Yves. Her first husband before 1951. In 1997, she married again, to journalist and editor Frank Landt Dennis. He died in 2002. She died in 2023, at the age of 101.Obituary: Monique J. Cossard
Dignity Memorial, Falls Church, Virginia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cossard, Monique 1921 births 2023 deaths American educators American textbook writers American women centenarians French emigrants to the United States People from Val-de-Marne